Angela Gratto (Ross) Higgs

2016 - Top Ten Percent Educatir in Georgia
2016 - Teacher of the Year
2018 - Facilitated Professional Development for Association of Middle Level Educators Summit in Hawaii

anjoross@netzero.com

-Meeting and hanging out with our Australian, Tasmanian exchange student Roger Hanson
-Driving around in Tina Beck's old postal service jeep all over Spokane County
-Driving way to fast on the back roads of Mount Spokane in sooped up cars of my guy friends
-First (real) kiss from Scott Nell - such a sweet guy and turned into an equally nice man
-Sneaking into the Division Y Drive-In and then watching those ignorant Bruce Lee movies because my boyfriend thought they were wonderful
-Drama - playing the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz;no comments about being type cast!! :)
-Drama sleep over at my house where one of our favorite teachers 'chaperoned'
-Senior trip to Deer Lake - too many fun memories there to write about
--Penny poker parties at Mac's house with all the drama gang
- Lane Thompson making me laugh
-Getting asked out and being to afraid to say yes
-two people rented a room at the Pine something Motel (remember on the northeast corner of Division and Francis) and the rest of us climbing in the bathroom window so we could hang out till the wee hours of the morning
-My boyfriend just happened to be visiting when Mount St. Helens blew - and we so wanted to go back to school :)
-Interviewing Neil Diamond for the school newspaper

I can't remember their names but the teacher who taught Elizabethan Poetry was wonderful - love it to this day - can still quote parts of the sonnet I had to memorize.
-The drama teachers both in middle and high because they helped me come out of myself. It was the first time someone told me I had talent in something other than writing. I later came to realize I could be assertive with out hiding behind a character. It helped me learn to become assertive.

- Christina Beck and I have remained close friends over the years. We worked at the same lovely Taco Johns for a few years while going to school. Then when she went to Cincinnati to finish school we kept in touch. When she moved to Arizona we kept in touch. When my first husband was dieing she came to Spokane and was at my third childs birth. She then came back, spending her honeymoon with us to comfort me as I spent the last days with my husband. She has been a true friend in every sense of the word. They don't come any better.

Candy Little recently got in touch with me. She is as sweet and genuine as when we met in middle school. For some reason we did not hang together in high school - different set of friends I guess. I feel a closeness with her and hope we will remain friends, true ones are harder to find as the years pass.

- I have seen Roger Hanson three times since we graduated. Twice in Spokane and once in Atlanta. He has been more faithful than I in keeping in touch. I adore his wife Wendy who has a sharp wit and hilarious sense of humor (we kick butt in Pictionary!!). Their kids are too cute for words. They had never seen a school bus so they took pictures like it was a famous landmark. The kids on the bus were looking at them with confusion. The whole family are treasures.

- Lane Thompson got me job at a Bingo Hall where I worked until I graduated college. We worked there suffering abuse from the elderly patrons who felt the bingo callers were rigging the bingo balls and pull tab games. Such fond memories of shared P.T.S.D. (that might be a slight exaggeration :) He also met his lovely wife Lisa there.

- For many years I kept in touch with Scott Nell through his mother. Jeri and I worked together for a number of years. We have lost touch but I have a deep fondness for this gentle, ethical man.

- I tell my students they have the power to change the world - be it their tiny part of the world
-who you choose to associate (i.e. a person of a different race or culture)
-what you say
-what you believe is important in life
all of this ripples like a stone thrown in water
-Margaret Mead (interpretation)

-Stand up for what is right even if you are standing alone
-Anonymous

-Be assertive, Speak your mind

-Stand up for Civil Rights