Top 10 Things “Lifers” Remember About RMA

First of all, to clarify, being a “lifer” at RMA means that you have been a student here since kindergarten through twelfth grade. Since RMA changes very rapidly in the course of 13 years, lifers experience these changes first hand and also remember how far RMA has come. The following ten memories, in no particular order, are a few of the many things that the RMA senior class lifers remember.

1. Life before the EDGE could be considered the “dark ages” of RMA. For a while, we had tiny laptops that went around on a cart to each class before teachers were given Lenovo’s and fancy projectors. Needless to say, the EDGE program has become much more advanced over time and now has moved away from Lenovo’s, and on to the aesthetically pleasing Surface tablets. Hats off to Ms. Covolo, Mr. Huffman (we miss you), Mr. Meadows (miss you too), Mr. Winstead, Dr. K, Mrs. Grantham, Ms. Doughtie, and the many others for getting this program off the ground and dragging us out of the archaic times.
2. Pizza Sticks were truly an RMA delicacy. Most students, myself included, were avid fans of this creation that as about half the size of a Hot Pocket and filled with cheese, marinara sauce, and occasionally pepperoni. Another pizza stick enthusiast, senior lifer Gage Chilton, states that, “Yo pizza sticks are life!” If I remember correctly, pizza sticks made a one-time surprise comeback last year. What a tease.
3. The old lunchroom was in the upstairs gym. Until the spacious “cafetorium” was built in 2005, lunch and break were served in the kitchen where volleyball and basketball concessions are now sold. Before the cafetorium was built, upper and middle school plays were performed in the current music room.
4. RMA used to have Subway and Mario’s deliver food every day for lunch. I had to put the whole sentence in bold for this one. I understand that providing daily meals for students must have been expensive, but it was also one of the things I loved most in lower school about RMA. It was a great time to be alive.
5. The original Josh’s Place playground was a simple, appropriate way to remember Josh Weaver. Before it was revamped by a play area marking company, kids had four see-saws, a slide, a set of swings, and monkey bars to play on. When the new Josh’s Place was built, all kids were excited to see the colorful maze-like structures to play on.
6. The mural in the courtyard was previously an Eagle Scout Project that was designed to look like a soccer stadium. The mural was complete with hand painted players and lots of fans in the stands.
7. Friendship Field was renamed Steven’s Field when headmaster Tom Stevens left RMA in 2011 and Ms. Covolo became the headmaster after serving as the head of lower school. The field hasn’t changed much since it was renamed except for the removal of the soccer fieldhouse this past summer. 
8. Mr. Littke’s lower school computer class was probably my favorite “special” of the week. He always told everyone to go to the blue W and type “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” ten times (this was when the Microsoft Word program had the paper clip with moving eyes). At the time, I had no idea what copy and paste was so everyone left me in the dust and was able to go play games on the internet while I was still on my second sentence.
9. Sally Foster wrapping paper sales were stressful times because a trip to Pizza Inn by limo with Shrek was at stake. No matter how much we heckled our family and friends, my sister Haven and I never sold enough and usually had to take turns using a pen with a flashlight at the end. Since Sally Foster, RMA has moved on to the cookie sales, which is definitely a change that I approve of. Senior lifer Sam Sconyers recalls her time at Pizza Inn by sharing one of her memories there, she states, “The girls won in a pizza eating competition against the boys and I got to sit beside Shrek, so that was pretty cool.”
10. Before the widely-known coaching staff graced RMA with their presence, our football team really struggled. I know that this is surprising to most new-comers, but despite the athleticism of graduated RMA football players, football just wasn’t our best sport. Thankfully, that time has passed and despite Coach Holt’s absence, RMA football has a bright future.

Needless to say, RMA has come a long way since the Class of 2016 entered kindergarten. The constant improvements are something to be thankful for because without them, we would not be where we are today.