Sensations from the Start: Win-E-Mac in the Beginning
It is tempting now, sitting somewhat securely and dispassionately some eight years later, to revise the history of the origins of our institution, to put an easy spin on what it was like to be part of the creation of Win-E-Mac.
But it wasn’t easy: ask any of the kids who went through it. Nor was it simple; just ask any of the teachers, administrators, custodians, and the others involved. In fact, dozens of you reading this now flatly said then, “It won’t work.”

Actually, it had to work. Economically, there was no other choice.

So it was, the, that in the warm spring of 1986, we juniors from McIntosh and Winger and Erskine and Mentor came to hear, in the round-about way that people do, whispers of what might be, rumors that an eventual “pairing” of school systems would take place in the following year.

And at that point more heartfelt terms were shot around with more conviction and more ferocity than in the histories of all the communities. School pride and spirit swelled despite the economic impracticality of those sentiments. Our parents, many of them Mac-Winger and Erskine and Mentor alumni, were more vocal in their opposition to a combined school than any other segment of the population. Their remarks, along with the cacophony of other nay sayers, cast a stressful, filmy pessimism over the months preceding the summer of 1987, sharply contrasting the excellence of the summer.

It won’t work. It can’t.

But a “joint-powers” committee was formed to hear concerns, receive input, quell fears, answer questions. Opposition remained high, but eventually it was decided that a paired and shared school program would begin in the fall, marking our first year together and, for us seniors, our last year as high school students.

A rough-edged, sprawling, noisy transition, yes, but not so bad as many feared. Some of us, in fact, were beginning to entertain thoughts of something very interesting coming out of all this, maybe something even good, such as the possible results of a combined athletic program. And really what were we worried about? Most of us knew the kids from the other schools, either through sports or other, more casual pursuits. We’d danced together, been to one another’s proms, split 12-packs, had our shares of romantic relationships.

And gradually—slowly—our parents accepted reality, if never fully embracing it.

Facing the schools now was the question of a name that would be acceptable to all parties involved. Many combinations were discussed, suggested. Such hefty titles as McIntosh-Winger-Erskine-Mentor Schools, in every order, were considered. Someone even suggested the anemic and at once correctional-institution-sounding East Polk County School as a possibility. But eventually the snappy Win-E-Mac, with its positive connotations, was chosen to go along with an equally appropriate new mascot, the Patriots.

No first day of school is easy; in fact, the first few weeks are marked by an awkwardness seasoned bitterly with all the superficial social snafus that characterize life in high school. Immix the kids from a couple of other schools and the recipe imparts an altogether different flavor, an exciting, spicy taste, like throwing a couple of habanero peppers into an already pungent pot.

And soon enough, as the weeks passed, our awkwardness, our silly self-consciousness ebbed (though by virtue of the school, it never fully abates and it never, ever feels silly at the time). We forgot all about the first-date tension of the first weeks and began to enjoy the casual associations, new faces, strengthened friendships, different classes, and yet, the whole time, were reminded, from that sentimental place within, that our days together were coming to an end.
In the warm spring of our senior year, after having won our Homecoming football game against Roseau 22-3, and after having blown through Conference, District 30, and Region 8A without a loss and reaching the State Finals in volleyball while our band played in the Rotunda of the State Capitol, and fater having placed second in the Northern Plains Conference in track, and after having hosted students from Sweden, Austria, Mexico, and Columbia—after having done all these things, we Patriots, some 60 of us, looked around that Saturday afternoon the 30th of May 1987, our Graduation, cooled that warm day by a moderate breeze on the front lawn, thinking this thing called Win-E-Mac not only worked, but couldn’t have worked better.
--Jason Amundson

[..from the "All School Reunion" (red) book, page 5..]