School life, by the book

PAKENHAM High was a daytime village, rather more so than a place for learning, according to former student Roger Harvey.
Mr Harvey, who attended the school from 1969 to 1974, has compiled a book documenting student life, featuring photos and an array of old Gazette articles.
The book, aptly titled “Packy High: The good, the bad and the ugly”, covers the right of passage of Mr Harvey and his peers, with colourful anecdotes about students and staff.
The publication has a “naughty edge to it” with the book revealing former students candid thoughts on their teachers.
Mr Harvey has also had his fair share of fun on Photoshop when compiling the 99-page book.
“I put a cigarette in one guy’s hand,” he said.
There were the cool teachers, like Bob Taylor, and then there were the authoritarians like then principal Lindsay Thomson, who Mr Harvey described as a “tyrant”.
Mr Harvey felt the need to enclose a personal apology in the book when he mailed it to Mr Thomson.
“We were pretty scared of our principal,” he said.
“I put a lot of bad things in there about him but he was happy and excited to get it.
“He was a tyrant; he kept the boys in line with rigid authority.”
But the popular Mr Taylor was surprised the boys found their principal tyrannical.
“He was a really decent bloke. You could go into his office and have a real argument with him, then he’d join you down the pub for a beer later,” Mr Taylor says in the book.
Mr Harvey said most students weren’t interested in learning.
“My memories are that not many people were particularly interested in studying but everyone had lots of fun,” he told the Gazette.
“The main thing about going to school was the social interaction, you made friendships for life.
“I live in Sydney now but I still have major friends from my school.”
Compiling the book was a challenge and took nine months to complete.
“I made it because I had a box of stuff I kept from high school and someone organised a reunion for this year,” Mr Harvey said.
“I contacted about 60 people, nobody had anything. Then I discovered two girls (Cathy Walden and Sabrina Kerber) who had scrapbooks and Bob Taylor had a big collection of fantastic photos.”
Former classmate Andrew Trotter organised the reunion in March 2009, and spent four days at the State Library hunting down Gazette archives to be used in the publication.
‘Packy High: The good, the bad and the ugly’ can be viewed at the Pakenham and Berwick libraries.