Have you ever wondered what your parents or grandparents who graduated from Cameron High School were up to back in their day? What sort of events were going on during their high school years? Maybe you were just curious as to how our football team fared back then. Luckily, technology has made it easier to view older versions of The Tank, the oldest one dating back to 1928. They have been posted online for everyone to enjoy.

"We just wanted to make them available to the public," said The Tank Advisor Derek Williams. "There's a lot of people out there in Cameron and beyond who like to see what was talked about back in the day, and we thought it'd be cool to make it available to them once again."

This was not possible to begin with, however. The computers in Mr. Williams classroom just did not have the extra memory to upload all of the old ones. He knew he needed a new computer, but obtaining a new one was a task in itself.

Fortunately, Prudential Snook Realtors held their Second Annual BigGive giveaway in 2009 and donated the money they raised to the Cameron school teachers. The teachers were able to send in a request for supplies they needed, telling how much the supplies would cost and how they would benefit the students. Mr. Williams saw this as his opportunity for a new computer for his class.

"Mr. Williams had his form into our office first!" said Debbie Hahn from Prudential Snook Realtors. The new computer was bought from Best Buy, costing around $350.

With the generous donation, Mr. Williams was able to make the new computer into the editor's computer, since it was much faster and had the memory required. That freed up one of the older computers, which is now being used as a server for all files of the old Tanks.

"I am glad my office could make this computer possible and for students and teachers alike to view the old Tanks," Mrs. Hahn said. "I graduated from CHS and I'm very proud that my company can give back...I always say, once a Dragon, always a Dragon!  It was an honor to be able to give back to our hardworking teachers.  So many times they don’t get the credit they deserve!  We wanted to give credit where credit is due and giving the requested items to such deserving teachers was truly our honor!"

Thanks to Mrs. Hahn and Prudential Snook Realtors, The Tank is able to share a little piece of Cameron High School history with everyone.

"The cool thing is," said Mr. Williams, "there are people who have been in this class dating clear back to, well the first one we had was 1928, and so chances are they probably don't have all those old papers anymore because the paper itself started to deteriorate, but this way they can have it and people can look back and see what their grandparents were doing in high school."

Rosalie Peterson, The Tank Advisor from 1966 to 1989, also thought it was a neat idea. "I think it's an excellent idea to preserve old memories...Current students can go back and check if they need to know who was queen in 1970 or something like that. Also, I work at the library and we have many people come in to look at our old yearbooks and newspapers to check who got what award, especially in athletics."

Now it's easy for anyone to check out the old editions by visiting The Tank website at tank.cameronschools.org. (Remmeber, leave out the www.) Under "Links We Like" on the left-hand side, click on "Show Links" and look for "HISTORIC TANKS--Dating Back to 1928." It leads to the site containing links to the old editions. The Tank would like to thank Technology Director Mr. Al Dow for all his help getting the website up and running, as well as setting up the server.

If you visit the site, you will notice that the list is not complete. The staff is still in the process of more scanning, especially the larger papers from the 1980's, but If you happen to have any old Tanks you would like to donate, please contact Mr. Williams at dwilliams@cameronschools.org, or mail them to the high school and he will post them onto the site. Now everyone can enjoy them and learn a thing or two about Cameron High School's past!