To illustrate the differences and similarities of the West experience over the decades, West reporter Katherine Janiszewski interviewed senior Ellen Sauter and her father, Doug Sauter, a Wauwatosa West alumnus.

1) What was (is) the grossest in the school lunch?

Ellen: [The grossest thing is] the yogurt, the fruit and the salad bar.

Mr. Sauter: I never ate much in the cafeteria because of all of it was pretty unappetizing. I brought my lunch from home. They had these hamburgers and hotdogs that were wrapped up in foil. When you got them, they were pretty moist. Bringing lunch from home was much better.

2)Where was the coolest place you went on a field trip?

Ellen: Mexico for a Spanish group. It was cool to be gone for three weeks in Mexico and learning about the culture.

Mr. Sauter: We took a boat from the Menomonee river . . . we took a tour of the harbor . . . I thought that was pretty cool.

3) Are/ were the bathrooms really gross?

Ellen: Yes. They are so disgusting. They need to be redone.

Mr. Sauter: Yeah, they kind of were. The cleanest ones were in the men’s locker room.

4) What was your heaviest textbook?

Ellen: English book from sophomore year.

Mr. Sauter: I had a lot of heavy textbooks in college and medical school. I don’t remember.

5) Did a teacher ever do anything that made you really, really, mad?

Ellen: A teacher put something on a test that they didn’t go over and they said they did [go over it] but they didn’t.

Mr. Sauter: I’m sure there was, but I can’t think of any particular event. They were all pretty fair, I think.

6) What was the weirdest thing a teacher ever did?

Ellen: A teacher had a ninja challenge today . . . it was pretty strange.

Mr. Sauter: Mr. Sutton, he was a biology teacher, and he routinely, at pep rallies, would dress up in Women’s clothes as a funny thing. It was very funny, and weird, but everybody got a good laugh out of it.

Reporter: Katherine Janiszewski