Year in Focus

The year in focus

Our new segment takes us back in time to consider some of the biggest local, national and global ‘happenings’ of a particular year. This week’s focus is the year 2000.

Parents and staff (students were not yet born) may remember feeling tense and potentially frightened as they welcomed in the new year. Y2K or the Millennium Bug threatened to send the world into chaos as the calendar switched from 1999 to 2000. Fortunately, the hype 

around this was proven unnecessary and we rolled into the year 2000 seamlessly. Can you remember where you were when the new millennium began?

We may have avoided disaster with the Millennium Bug, however, we weren’t so lucky (some would say) when it came to the AFL season, with Essendon defeating Melbourne in the final (19.21- 11.9). The Demons haven’t appeared in a grand final since. In other sporting news, Sydney hosted the Olympic Games and amongst the 16 Australian gold medal performances was Cathy Freeman’s iconic 400 m victory. 

The number one ARIA chart topper was Anastacia’s I’m Outta Love. Destiny’s Child were emerging as a formidable R&B group and Sophie Monk’s career was launched via the girl group, Bardot. Triple J listeners loved Powderfinger and they achieved the number one and number three spot in the Triple J hottest 100 for the year 2000. Clearly variety was the spice of life and we’re sure underage discos at the Memorial Hall and local parties certainly demonstrated this!

Believe it or not, Vans were still the shoes of choice and HHS teens teamed these with low waisted jeans or cargo pants. Supre opened their doors and local girls loved a trip to Eastland to find their next outfit. A hot date to the movies was probably to watch one of three box office hits; Mission Impossible II, Gladiator or Castaway (WILSON!)

Former HHS principal, Denis Brown,

 retired at the end of 2000 after eight years as the head honcho. John Howard was the Prime Minister and Steve Bracks was the Premier of Victoria. The United States was led by Bill Clinton.

Academically, 2000 was a successful year for HHS with five students receiving an ATAR (ENTER at the time) over 90 and a further seven students scoring over 80. Notable graduates include the school Dux, Jessica Murphy, who is a doctor specialising in anesthesia and critical care. Kylie Martin (Wilson) achieved the second highest score and is currently the Chief Operating Officer for a successful company involved in designing and creating innovative security and risk solutions for high profile clients and industries. 

On a staff note, Shelley Morley returned from family leave and has been inspiring and scaring students ever since. We love you, Shelley!

Locally, family favourite clothing store ‘Status’ closed their doors after years of outfitting Healesville families. This Assistant Principal has fond memories of hiding under the clothes racks while her mum agonised over the best blouse to buy for the 1988 Debutante Ball and purchasing her first HHS school dress in preparation for Year 7. What a versatile shop Status was!

There you have it…the year 2000 in a nutshell. Do you have memories of a year at HHS you would like to share? What year would you like us to feature next? Drop us a line to share your ideas: laura.mitchell@education.vic.gov.au