History
If your really intereseted in learning the history of
this page here it goes...
2001
During my final year of High Scool I took an independent study class in
Graphic Design. In that class I was able to create my own project for
the entire quarter. My high school was playing around with idea of changing
our football teams helmet design. I took matters in my own hand began
researching some ideas. From there I stumbled upon The Helmet Project.
I was so inspired by Charles Arey's site that I switched my project to
designing all the helmets (from the past to present) in our high school
football conference. I found it to much more challenging to find historical
documentation of schools helmet designs. I decided to evolve the project
and cover all the current high school football helmets in Minnesota. The
Minnesota High School Helmet Project (MHSHP) was in full swing.
I signed up for a free website on Netscape in the fall of 2001. A friend
helped me set up the site and I designed the rest. At first the site only
consisted of the Twin Cities Metro Area high schools. But later I added
the rest of schools in the state. I found it more challenging to find
more information about schools that were smaller and farther away from
me.
2002
In 2002 I posted the rest of the high schools outside of the Twin Cities
Metro Area. I continued to work and tweak the website. Just before I went
public with the site my computer crashed and lost all of my files. I spent
a majority of the fall and early winter rebuilding the site.
2003
After completely rebuilding the site and updating some the helmets I was
ready to go public in the summer just before for football camp began.
Another set back accurred. I received a email from netscape saying they
were no longer going to hosting free websites. They gave me 30 days to
remove the site before they terminate the site completely. After two unsuccessful
attempts to get the site up and running I temporaily put the MHSHP on
hold.
2004
2004 was a quiet year. I still updated the site as I discovered new helmet
designs. I was also searching for alternative hosting site to host my
website.
2005
In the spring I graduated from college with degree in Graphic Design.
Through out my years in college I picked up some skills in web design.
So during the summer I spent some time refining the MHSHP website. Finally,
a college friend gave me some space on his website for me to post the
MHSHP site. The MHSHP finally had a home. My goal was to update the site
as current as possible. I also discovered a few more resources that helped
me greatly in adding a large portion of helmets that I didn't have. In
the fall I set a target date for the site to go public on January 1st,
2006.
2006
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet the January 1st date. I discovered
a few more issues with the site. After setting another unreachable deadline
of March 1st I decided to wait until mid August to launch the site. I
felt this would be appropriate just before the High School Football seasons
begins. On August 25, 2006 the MHSHP was finally up and running. I received
a lot of positive feedback in regards to the site. Although a lot viewers
pointed out spelling mistakes and incorrect conference and school sections.
I decided for 2007 during the"off-season" that I would have
a mini-over haul on the site. The plan is to have all the school's name
and nicknames spelled correctly, have the correct schools in the correct
conferences and add defunct school page. So please bear with me as I make
these changes.
2007
2007 was a busy year. Thier was a lot of behind the scenes work done to the site. The big thing was that now all the school's name
and nicknames are spelled correctly, have the correct schools in the correct
conferences and added a defunct school page. Another big part of 2007 was consumed by replacing the old style helmet with a new more detailed looking helmet. About half the conferences are complete. I am looking to have the entire page switched over to the new helmets by the start of the 2008 football season. The MHSHP also was getting noticed by the media. Their was small article was written on startribune.com just before the start of the 2007 football season. Hopefully this is the start to more recognition. The big goal for 2008 is to add a page offering design services to all high schools. Look for that page in the early part of 2008.
2008
Another year has come and gone. And what a busy year it was. I added a page for Design Services. I was able to help a few schools through out the year with some design projects with hopes of more business to come in 2009. All of the helmets were switched to the more detailed looking helmet. Also, all of the conferences, schools and nicknames were updated for the 2008 football season. One of the biggest accomplishments of 2008 was the completion of many helmets that I didn't have prior representation. The MHSHP has 385 helmets represented of 387 football programs in state. Only two more to go and a helmet will be represented for every school in the state. One goal for 2009 is have all 387 schools have a helmet represented for their program. Another big goal for 2009 is to add more defunct schools to the Defunct School page. I also hope to continue research more information about older football programs. Thanks to everyone who contributed through out this past year.
I just want thank all the people that have helped and
donated information to this site through out the last few years. Without
your help the site wouldn't be were it is today!
THANK YOU
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