Every school has alumni; however, nothing comes close to the alums of Elder High School.

Elder has built a foundation of successful hard-working men with determined attributes. As a student at Elder, the brotherhood and spirit of Panther pride hits the core to all who attend.  Taking note of this, we have decided to interview some of these alumni to see how Elder has made such a lasting impact on their lives. Let’s dive deeper into these prominent graduates of Elder High School.

When Bill Deters walked into Elder High School in 1962, he had no idea that the lessons, friendships, and traditions he experienced would stay with him for a lifetime.

Bill explained, the football games, the energy of classes, and the silence of the schoolwide Mass defined these moments at Elder for him. One particular moment Bill brought up was at an all school Mass for a veteran who was killed in Vietnam.

“It was memorable,” he recalled, “The whole school was there. His parents were there. You could feel the weight of it.”

One of the things Bill remembers most about his time at Elder was freshman year, when the school introduced demerits. He talked about how they were brand new and nobody knew how to administer them. He said the teachers didn’t know how to give them out because there wasn’t any guideline on what deserves one.

Bill told us about how he would get a demerit in one class, but do the same thing in another with no consequence. “Back then you needed 20 demerits to get a suspension.” One of the hardest times Bill had at Elder was when he found the truth behind his actions. He remarked, “I got 20 demerits in a quarter and got suspended. It was a lesson for me, I learned to think before I talk and control myself.”

Nearly 40 years later, Andrew Curtis and Andrew Sullivan would experience for themselves the lasting impact Elder would have on them.

Curtis’s favorite memory about Elder was the football games and specifically, the bus ride to Canton, in 2002 for the State Championship. Curtis was on the team for the back to back state championships. He spoke about the time they had an entire police escort through Cincinnati during the ride to Canton.

There were motorcycles and police cars, when they got close to Canton, people all around put up signs every mile reading “Panther Country” and “I Bleed Purple.” “It was unbelievable.”

Curtis talked about how Elder brought him numerous lessons and experiences that have still impacted him today. “It has definitely taught me to be a hard worker, keep my head down, do my job, and meet as many people as possible.”

Curtis explained that being an Elder alum has given him access into certain circles by sharing a commonality with other people. Curtis’s most challenging moment about going to Elder was coming from a small school and not having any friends. Curtis went to St. Jude for grade school, at that time St. Jude was still small. Only 11 kids from St. Jude went to Elder that year. However, once Andrew Curtis started playing football he found a new brotherhood, the Elder brotherhood.

A separate challenging time for Curtis was September 11, 2001. Andrew was in algebra class when the attacks of 9/11 happened.

He stated, “I remember just sitting in algebra and we started watching the news.’’ During his time at Elder, they had a couple student casualties which brought sadness and grief that drowned the school. One particular class and teacher that helped Curtis was Tim Shirera’s economics class. The class was for general knowledge of economics. They learned the basics of how to open a bank account, invest in stocks, etc. The impact the teacher had was Andrew learned valuable lessons about money and the world that helped him greatly in his future life.

Elder has also made a lasting impact on 2005 Elder grad Andrew Sullivan. Sullivan’s favorite moments about Elder were the football games.

Sullivan wasn’t on the team but said the excitement in the student section was crazy. His most memorable moment was the back-to-back state champ games and being with his friends and classmates during them. Sullivan goes into depth about Elder’s brotherhood and how it impacted his life. 

“Brotherhood is a defining factor of Elder to me.” He confirms the friendships he has with guys from Elder will remain strong. His most challenging moment was when they lost classmates. ”Everyone was just dealing with grief.” He brings up Elder’s brotherhood when talking about this, he explains the loss of a student caused everyone to come together and be close.

Elder helped Sullivan for his next step in life. Elder taught Andrew Sullivan valuable lessons on how to study and be a good student. Sullivan smirked, ”Elder made college easy.” 

Elder’s lasting impact on different lives is shown through these alumni.  Bill Deters, Andrew Curtis, and Andrew Sullivan all went through Elder, each experiencing their own unique life changing lessons while keeping the strength of Elder’s brotherhood.

Elder has impacted their friendships, jobs, and social lives. Elder’s spirit of brotherhood and community lives through these alumni and will keep striving throughout the years.