Matthew Geiger played football, wrestling, and track. This is him after a football game in 2012.
Matthew Geiger and Greg Mays are just a couple out of many teachers who went to Hastings High themselves as teenagers and both Geiger and Mays have many memories from high school.
Not only did they go to HHS but both have been a part of the Hastings Public School System since childhood. Geiger went to Lincoln Elementary while Mays went to Alcott and Longfellow.
“I then went to Hastings Middle when we were still in the old building, they moved into the new one the year after I left,” Geiger said.
When Geiger attended HHS, there were some differences in the building. For example, the science wing was not put up yet and was put up the year Geiger graduated in 2013. Mays went to HHS and graduated in 1990 so there were some more differences as well.
“It was exactly the same and completely different, it was high school but it was a long time ago,” Mays said. “The jock lot was gravel, there was a barn out by the tennis courts, there was also no north gym so we only played in the south gym, and it got so packed during games.”
Geiger mentioned that not only were there some differences in the building but there were also some programs that are no longer an option. One thing he remembers is that they had a Freshman Mentoring Program where freshmen after lunch would meet with juniors and seniors who would talk to them and help freshmen navigate and understand the high school.
“When I was a freshman we had a talent show that our mentors completely forgot about, so we didn’t come up with an act, and we ended up coming up with the idea of me jumping over people that were standing up, I jumped over 4 people and it was nuts,” Geiger said.
Not only was the FMP an option back then, but Mays also says how they used to have a bonfire the night before homecoming and there were pep rallies before big games.
“The week before the Grand Island game there was an Islander week like a spirit week and Friday was Islander day,” Mays said. “Everyone would wear Hawaiian shirts and beach clothes to school and the game, I remember cheerleaders coming out to the pep rally being carried on surfboards.”
Not only does Geiger have memories of high school that he looks back on but he also has many of him teaching here, especially memories of him coaching boys wrestling.
“My most memorable moment would have to be coaching the 2019-2020 wrestling team where we not only won state duals but also won the NSAA state tournament for the first time since 1988,” Geiger said.
Between so many memories, Mays especially likes to think of the basketball games, homecoming games, school dances, and most importantly, he remembers the strangeness of the last days as a senior.
“I remember thinking that important things and exciting things would be happening, but instead I learned, those are just the last normal days, the last days of the life I had always lived, and a new time was about to start,” Mays said.
