The front page of "The Fang," student newspaper of Lake Highlands High School, features a story about the retirement of longtime teacher Suzanne Schwenn. Senior Trish Byron, editor of the paper, interviewed Ms. Schwenn for the article and shares that Ms. Schwenn was a member of the first Highlandette drill team line (her 1960’s photo in white boots and red top hat is priceless). Ms. Schwenn attended the first Wildcat football game, and she wrote, along with two classmates, the lyrics to the LH fight song. Back then, the high school was housed in what is now the junior high, and Audelia Road was only two lanes wide.
I first encountered Ms. Schwenn when she becames my daughter’s debate teacher. She’s a utility player for LH, having taught English I, II, and III, Speech, Critical Thinking, Communications Applications, and ESL (English as a Second Language). Ms. Schwenn coached my daughter’s Mock Trial team at a time when Richardson High’s Law Magnet seemed unbeatable. Others might have given up long after-school and Saturday practices, but Ms. Schwenn had the kids convinced they could hang with the best. Every child on the team arrived knowing nothing about mock trial strategy, techniques, or even rules. Every child on the team grew exponentially as a student and as a person under Ms. Schwenn’s tutilage. Richardson won district handily, as expected, but an unknown sophomore – new to the "sport," took home one of the top two individual awards given by the Dallas Bar Association that year. Laura Toler received a plaque and a scholarship check, but the confidence and care that she received from Suzanne Schwenn was worth more than any scholarship ever given. Thank you, Ms. Schwenn, for 28 years of inspiring kids to believe and achieve. You will be missed in LH.
