“In order to post the yearbook covers, I scanned each using the color mode on my computer. I did this even with the ‘black-and-white’ covers. So I was very surprised to discover that 2001 yearbook contained a bizarre secret. (I might add that I have just recently read Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, and I am now ready for a conspiracy behind every tree.) After scanning the image of the cover, I adjusted the contrast, but I also moved the saturation adjustment. And lo, to my astonishment, the cola can changed from a gray to a bright red. Apparently the cover is not truly black-and-white but disguised a hidden code! To paraphrase Sophie in Brown’s book, 'How could have missed that cipher? It was there in front of us all the time!' I have reproduced the cover showing the hidden color on the left. I don’t think there are any 2001 yearbooks out there like this one, however. So, class of 2001, what’s the true story behind this? Is it 'an enigma piled on secrets stacked on riddles'?"

-Peter Dreher, English Teacher, DSW

Till Hennig reports: "Als Mitwirkender dieses außerodentlich eindrucksvollen Yearbook Covers, ist es mir eine Ehre nun auch einmal Sie aufklären zu dürfen: Der Produktionsprozess verlief komplett in Farbe, damit das virtuelle Modell bezüglich Schatten & Reflektionen ständig mit dem “echten” Objekt vergleichbar war; eine Realitätsnahe Nachbildung war nämlich oberste Priorität. Offensichtlich wurde das Cover weder von Uns, dem Yearkbook-Team noch von der Druckerei vor dem Drucken nach Schwarz/Weiss konvertiert, ergo die verstecken Farben." (6-27-05)

The 1991 cover celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. "The news broke without warning. We were sitting in class in the afternoon, shortly before school was out for the day, when Mr. Ziegler, the principal, came into the room. Rather unceremoniously he announced that the Berlin wall had opened, and “there is a TV crew from Eyewitness News waiting outside - they want to do an interview and ask your opinion.” We were dumbfounded.

About 30 seconds later the crew came in and started interviewing. I do not remember the contents of these interviews. Suffice it to say that we probably were not able to give an in-depth analysis of the events. Altogether it was a scene that defied description. Reality didn’t set in until later that afternoon, when the pictures from Berlin were broadcast on CNN, when we all made phone calls to Germany to hear from friends and relatives, and, last but not least, when we saw our 'interviews' in the news."

-Golo Henning (Abitur class 1990), excerpted from “November 9, 1989: A Day to Remember,” 40 Jahre Deutsche Schule: Eine Festschrift. Potomac: German School Society, 2001, 118-119.

Several schools that we competed against had the “Wildcat” as their mascot and used the same blue and gold colors. To avoid confusion, Mr. Barker and some of the students started using the colors of the German flag--black, red, and gold--and adopted the Eagle as the new mascot. But this bird lasted only a year; the school found a new image in the Griffin, a mythological creature with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head and wings. The mascot represents strength, pride, and intelligence.

-Jan V. Apel, Sports Teacher, DSW