Just listened to the Shelby Coyotes come back from 15 down to win by 4 over Missoula Loyola. What a great effort. I will be in Great Falls tomorrow night for the semis.
Why has Shelby produced so many successful Graduates? Was it the education system? The community leaders, the teachers or our coaches that inspired such a disproportionate number of successful people from a little windblown town in northern Montana?
Most of you are aware from the Shelby Promoter Articles of the success of Dr. Jack Horner (1964).He is one of the best-known paleontologists in the United States.He is the curator of the Museum of the Rockies and the Paleontologist who served as the technical advisor for all of the Jurassic Park films, and even served as partial inspiration for one of the lead characters, Dr. Alan Grant. See more about Jack at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Horner
Most of you are also aware of Jim Grady (1967) the author of many novels and Hollywood screen plays who wrote the book “6 days of the Condor” and the subsequent movie “3 days of the Condor”. Jim worked on Senator Mike Mansfield staff and won a fellowship to serve on Senator Lee Metcalf’s staff during the impeachment of Nixon.Jim later went on to work as an investigative reporter for syndicated Columnist Jack Anderson.You can learn more about Jim at http://www.jamesgrady.net/index.htm
Most of you are also aware of Larry Krystkowiak who grew up in Shelby and moved to Missoula where he graduated High School.He played college basketball for the University of Montana and still holds the school records for career points scored (2,017) and rebounds (1,105). He is the only person to have been named Big Sky Conference MVP three times (1984–1986). His NBA career spanned the years from 1986 to 1996 and was spent mostly with the Milwaukee Bucks.He later went on be the head coach of the University of Montana and the Milwaukee Bucks.
However there are also many other success stories in other arenas like Leroy Hood class of 56 (MD from Johns Hopkins, Ph.D. from Cal Tech) that may not also be so well known. Leroy's studies in molecular immunology, biotechnology, and genomics put him in a class by himself. Leroy and his colleagues pioneered four instruments — the DNA gene sequencer and synthesizer, and the protein synthesizer and sequencer — which comprise the technological foundation for contemporary molecular biology. In particular, the DNA sequencer has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid automated sequencing of DNA, which played a crucial role in contributing to the successful mapping of the human genome during the 1990s. These advancements alone make him a contender for a Nobel Prize in Science and Medicine. For more information on Leroy see this web site http://www.systemsbiology.org/scientists_and_research/faculty_groups/Hood_Group/Profile
The class of 1960 produced 2 MDs (Del Coolidge and Joe Neidhardt), an Optometrist (Mark Svennungsen), a University Professor (Pat Cleveland) an Air Force Academy graduate (Bill Greenup) and the leader of the Canadian Wheat Boycott (Henry Zell).
The class of 1961 produced an MD (Jim Fisher), a DVM (Don McCormick), a University Professor (Clark Gardener) and a Peace Corp Volunteer (Gerald Underdahl). There are probably many others that I am just not aware of.
There are also many other sign posts of success such as starting thriving businesses, providing significant services or important volunteer activities.
The main point is that the accomplishments that I know about far exceed the statistics you would expect from a town of only 3,200 inhabitants. Why is this true? What is so special about Shelby?
If you have theories on why Shelby High Graduates are so successful, please post these as well.
If you know of other successes please post them on this forum.
Thanks Clark, I forgot about Ronnie Randal (1961).
Here are several other notable success stories:
Dennis Hagen (1960) - Although I don' think Dennis went to College and he had dyslexia, he worked his way from box boy to top management with Safeway. This was a very significant accomplishment.
David Gardener (1960) - Earned his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering and went on to a successful career with IBM.But more importantly Dave has been involved with the Boy Scouts and shaping young lives and teaching values.
Jesse O’Hare (1961) had a career as a school teacher/councilor and then went on to serve in the Montana Legislature.
DeeAnna Brady (1961) had a career as a school teacher and then went on to become a school Principal.
Dennis Iverson (1961) served in the Montana Legislature.
Jesse Alred (1959) went on to have a very successful career in the newspaper publishing business.You can read more about his story in the Bio he posted on his profile.
I know their are more success stories out there – help me out guys!
Del Eulberg Class of 74 is a graduate of the Air Force Academy (78) and just retired as a Major General after serving as Chief Engineer of the Air Force. He also acted as the chief of Provisional Reconstruction Teams in Iraq where he commanded the joint services engineering units consisting of members of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corp.
The Promoter just ran (April 14, 2011) a nice article about Larry Krystkowiak being named the new head Basketball coach at the University of Utah. Way to go Special K.
