If you ever have some time and are on the 3rd floor, take a look into the display case. Inside you’ll see the old Lincoln baseball uniform, a ton of troubleshooting trophies, and a framed picture of the Lincoln Boys Basketball team, state champs in 1945, 56, and 57. If you take a closer look, you’ll notice an old print copy of The Lincoln Totem, our school’s original newspaper. I first found this antique treasure when I joined the Newspaper club last year, and I was interested in what the Lincoln High school students before our time wrote about. This particular paper happened to be the last edition of The Lincoln Totem before the school shut down in 1981. I could tell because an article titled, “Lincoln 1907-1981: an unreal, bad dream” caught my eye. This story was very well written. Reading it, I could tell that Lincoln meant a lot to the people it served, and I could certainly feel the Lynx pride.

On the bottom right of the old newspaper, there is a poem that would put the ones we write in ELA classes to shame. Written by Dorothy “Dotty” Provine, class of 1953, this poem seems like it was a trip down memory lane for this alumna.

Thanks for the Memory

By Dotty Provine

Thanks for the memories, dear old Lincoln High,

Of the fun we shared together in Study (what a lie!)

Of the mornings in the main hall with people forty deep,

Of Mr. Pfaff and Mr. Miller (at this point now we weep)

Of the hot rolls snuck in classes, and fines we didn’t pay,

Of the fire drills and the annex and senior Dress-Up Day.

We want to thank you for the memory of kids we knew

so well

Of the swimming down at Green Lake when the weather

was “just swell”

Of the mornings spent in the make-up gym with weather

ten below

Of the mixtures made in cooking, and the eating on the

grass

Of the C-3’s and the hall passes and the hours spent

in class

Of our Prom and Cruise and Commencement, we now

bid a farewell sigh,

For these and all the others, we want to

THANK YOU, LINCOLN HIGH

This poem was so eloquent and heartfelt that we, at the Lincoln Log, had to create one in celebration of the reopening of our school and of the newspaper. Selah Burrowes, president of poetry club, helped write this new version of Dotty Provine’s poem.

To New Lincoln Memories

By Selah Burrowes

To a building that has more than just memories, but also our individual stories…

Welcome back!

We no longer mourn your closing. Instead, we are rejoicing in your reopening.

Thank you for making it after all those 38 years, dear old Lincoln High.

After school was no longer defined as a building.

And due to a pandemic, you had to endure another closing and postponing, of students longing.

But like you, we are resilient too.

Coming back and trying to cultivate universal belonging.

Cheers!

To an opportunity, full of new beginnings.

To the construction crews building and Lynx crew cheering.

Of the colorful chalk on sidewalks that’s truly stunning.

Of the fall leaves and crows in trees, to the indecisive forecasting.

To the sudden fire drills and students speculating.

Of gym days in place like outside, woodland park, and staff ONLY parking.

To our shiny gym floors and walls decked out with banners (how exciting!).

We’re talking…

Instagramming events and witnessing students changing something.

Last minute cramming and hallways crowding.

Sports scoring, house points earning and robotics coding.

Studying and test taking.

Teachers supporting and clubs exploring.

Meeting new people and friend-making.

To the next century of students: GO LYNX!

WELCOME BACK, LINCOLN HIGH!

In “Lincoln 1907-1981: an unreal, bad dream”, the writer ends the story by saying, “We will go out with style and grace, because we are, and always will be, mighty Lincoln, the oldest and greatest of Seattle’s high schools.”

That was true in 1981, and it is still true today.

What started out as a building with students who were pulled from neighboring high schools, has flourished into a thriving community that many of us have grown to love. A reopened building didn’t give us a name in this district; we did. In every aspect of our school, whether that be academics, athletics, or the arts, we have shown the city of Seattle that Lincoln High School is a force to be reckoned with. We are no longer “the new school.”

We are the Lincoln Lynx.

We’re back. And better than before!