Larry A. Bryan, 1960
As I think about my time spent at Wichita East, I discover that those good times were a long time ago and I don’t remember them all that well. In fact, without looking for my yearbook, there are only two teachers I can recall and, boy, did they stand out. I don’t need my yearbook for them. I’m really surprised they are not at the top of everyone’s list, but as I scan through that dusty yearbook I realize that we were blessed with a lot of very capable educators.
The first one I often think back on is Bob Timmons. His influence goes well beyond East High and our class of 1960. Bob was a 5’4” marine sergeant who fought in the Pacific during WWII. We used to kid him about his height and often called him Timmie. We were amazed that he was a high hurdler. Bob was a very demanding coach and his workouts were continually harder and harder as he squeezed all we had to give. As a result, we won eight cross country, swimming and track state championships during our three years at East. Coach Timmons went on to win four NCAA titles, 15 Big Eight titles and 77 NCAA All-American titles. But, we knew him back then.
The second educator on my list could not be more different than Coach Timmons. I can honestly say 
that she made me the person I became. Most people would probably look at her as just another math teacher. But Mrs. Esther Benedict was far more than that for me. I credit her with enabling me to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point. The tears flow as I think back on it.
The new South High School opened in the fall of 1959. It was to draw many of its students from East, and I lived within South’s new boundaries! What to do? One of the rules governing who could stay at East was whether a class was available at East that was not available at South. I’m not sure of the politics, but the bottom line was that Mrs. Benedict was selected or volunteered to teach a special math class that only enrolled students who had already taken all math classes available at South. As I recall there were seven of us – Diane Rusch, David Divoky, Dave Kroenlein and a couple of others. I think this class was instrumental in my doing well on entry tests to West Point and being accepted there. West Point’s first-year math classes are considered to be back breakers, but they were easy for me, because I had already learned the material, thanks to Mrs. Benedict.
