GALLERY: Community Gathers to Celebrate Dana Hills High 50th Anniversary |

Students, alumni, families and former and current teachers from Dana Hills High’s five decades gathered to celebrate the milestone anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 14, with a pep rally, video time capsule, performances from current students and alumni, food trucks and more.

The event offered community members a chance to reconnect with Dana Hills and reminisce about their time at the high school, DHHS Principal Brad Baker said.

“It was an incredible event,” Baker said. “We had an amazing turnout. We had alumni from 1973, the original class, all the way up to our current students, so we had a packed gym.”

The anniversary celebration featured a performance from DHHS Class of 2000 alumnus Andrew McMahon, a singer-songwriter. Baker noted that the event was student-driven, with students managing the setup and tech for the performance.

“It was all student-driven,” Baker said. “We used all our own equipment, which was really unique. We didn’t spend any money on doing this. It’s just a testament to our current students that they could pull something like that off. It was really cool.”

The event offered community members an opportunity to experience a pep rally, with the school’s dance and cheer teams performing at the start of the celebration, offering an opportunity for many to reminisce about their high school days.

“They got to experience a little bit of a pep-rally feel at the beginning; it’s been probably 40 years for most of them, but they got to be back in the gym,” Baker said. “It’s like taking them back in time. Imagine sitting in your high school gym 40 years from now and watching a performance similar to 40 years ago; it would take you back.”

Leading up to the milestone anniversary, alumni began searching for a time capsule that had been buried by the inaugural 1973 high school class.

“Alumni have contacted me ever since the story broke, and I’ve gotten probably 100 tips on where they think it is, where it was or stories about it,” Baker said. “We’ve allowed people to do metal detectors, and we’ve had alumni on campus help us search, but we haven’t been able to find it.”

“It was neat that we had that experience, because during that experience of searching for it, it allowed us to meet new people and have a lot of conversations not only about the time capsule but about their experience at Dana Hills,” Baker continued. “To me, that’s been a bonus, even though we didn’t physically find the time capsule yet.”

The search for the time capsule offered a unique opportunity for alumni to gather on campus ahead of the celebration and share memories from their high school days, Baker said.

“To watch them walk the hallways and just to look in their eyes and just the smiles on their faces have been incredible,” Baker said. “The teachers and staff here have created just wonderful memories for them in the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s”

As of Monday, Oct. 16, Baker noted that the original time capsule remained undiscovered. However, Baker noted that the video time capsule created by DHHS alumnus and teacher Mark Reid offers a more accessible flash from the past.

“I really wanted to invest in an incredible video that captured our 50 years,” Baker said. “Now that it will be on the internet, we won’t have to dig it up except on our keyboards or whatever is invented at that time. But we believe having it now on the internet or digitally, we’ll be able to find it a lot easier a few years from now.”

Baker noted that he hopes that attendees from the event walked away feeling connected to the community and continue to stay involved with the school.

“I’m very proud of our past and excited for our future,” Baker said. “As we move forward and we create new memories and create new efforts to better not only our community but our students’ lives, I’m excited for that.”

“For us to see and learn from the past is an exciting and important thing to do to improve in the future,” Baker continued.

Check out our gallery below to see photos of the Dana Hills High School’s 50th anniversary festivities.