Anna
Kleis
Professor
Zabalbeascoa
FYSH:
Text and the City HON 110-303
20
February 2015
Lowell High School: An Unexpected Journey
If it weren’t for my personal tour
guide—a recent graduate of Lowell High School and a long-time resident of the
town—and the frequent banners with “LHS” printed on them, I would think I was
entering another college campus. Lowell High School promotes its existence in
an almost overwhelming manner, spreading itself over three impressive buildings
in downtown Lowell.
Merely
seeing the buildings that are Lowell High School from a distance warmed me up
immediately. My walk from the Inn and
Conference Center’s shuttle stop proved to be a treacherous one; incessant gusts
of wind carrying bone-chilling snowflakes attacked my once warm, now frozen
self. The walk through downtown Lowell alone, disregarding the biting
temperatures and wind chills, endangered the safety of my limbs from
superficial wounds. Clear spots on the pavement were sparse, and even those
were tricky because of the transparent ice that made itself welcome where it
wanted on the sidewalk. I offered a silent “thank you” to the downtown business
employees for braving the weather and shoveling their areas so that they would
not lose out on valuable business. I cursed what are the 2015 New England temperaments
on the way to my destination, realizing that this would only make Mother Nature
more upset (which it did, by the way).
By the end of my trek to Lowell
High, I was grateful to be not frozen alive and moments away from where I would
obtain the bulk of information from my visit. I was motivated to walk through
the halls of this high school like any high school student, past, present, and
future, would have done. After all, “every road tells a story of a particular
historical period, of a place and people” (Conover). Or in this case, every
high school hallway tells a unique story.
Before I even arrived in Lowell to be attending
college, I was warned by virtually everyone I conversed with to avoid the
actual city at all costs. I was to remain only on campus and not go wandering
off in order to see what else Lowell had to offer. Therefore, I was compelled
to possess very low expectations for this city that I am going to call home for
the next four years. Why would those who are supposed to offer me helpful
advice harshly degrade the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, the place
containing the education that will compose my future? I wondered what made them
think through this provincial mind of theirs and how I could prove them wrong. By
going to the high school, I desired to imagine myself walking a mile in one of
its students’ shoes. I felt the need to simulate their everyday encounters and
experiences.
Established
in 1831, Lowell High School is the second-largest public high school in
Massachusetts. Fostering partnerships with Middlesex Community College and
UMass Lowell has helped them shape their rich tradition of creating leaders in
all walks of life, from “politics to the pulpit, from business to the arts,
from academia to sports, from the military to medicine” (lhs.lowell.k12.ma.us/about).
All 4,000 students at Lowell High School pride themselves in their tremendous
ethnic diversity. Paul Tsongas, a former U.S Senator and presidential candidate
received his high school education where I was standing. Author Jack Kerouac
and U.S Congressman, now Chancellor of UMass Lowell, Marty Meehan attended
similar classes to those currently at Lowell High. With a comprehensive
schedule and array of programs that help boost students’ academic skills,
Lowell High is committed to assisting all students, “those bound for college,
the workforce or the military” and fortifying their futures.
As
I headed up the brown slush-covered sidewalk by the school, I passed a group of
what seemed to be juniors or seniors recollecting their day and discussing
where downtown they were going to grab something to eat. They were a mixed
group of individuals in terms of diversity; they appeared to be a
representative sample of the entire high school. A faculty member brushed by
me, appearing as though she was in a rush to retreat to a place other than her
place of work. Parents parked their cars as close to the curb as the compiled
snow and slush would let them, their right blinkers working at a rhythmic pace to
signal other cars that they would be waiting there for some time. Finally, I
glanced over at my friend, who just graduated from the school in the spring, to
see her reminiscing about her days spent here. She let a quick smile form
itself on her face and then looked over at me, not saying anything but
basically letting me know, “Well, this is it.” After this brief moment outside,
my friend and I sought warmth in the school, so we entered the building to
explore the generic locker-lined hallways and comfortable classrooms.
Now, I know that this experience of
mine was like any mundane, after-school observation, however, it did trigger
plenty of memories for my friend. “This school gave me a really good and
diversified education,” exclaimed my friend, Ashley Pham, who praised the
school for its academics. It fit the typical high school reality for her. She
is proud of her school being “the first co-ed public school in the country and
very historic,” naming the numerous well-known individuals who attended the
school. Another recent graduate of the memorable high school, Amara Sok, was
very fortunate to obtain her education there because of the free,
dual-enrollment program offered that permits high school students to take
college-level classes at Middlesex Community College. Amara admits that the
classes were difficult and “very time-consuming because they were taught by
college professors and were structured the same exact way regular college-level
classes are structured.” Nonetheless, both Ashley and Amara would not have
wanted to spend their high school years at a place other than Lowell. They
exhibited immense pride when talking about their former school, often getting
sidetracked and delving into a memory that they had in some particular
classroom or part of the school.
Currently, the school is split into
three different buildings. Two of those buildings are designated to the
sophomores, juniors and seniors, and a tunnel that extends over one of Lowell’s
ever-abundant canals connects them. Then, there is one building specifically
for the freshman, called the Freshman Academy. This building for the freshman
seems to ease the transition into high school and cultivate a better sense of
confidence for the newcomers. Both the upperclassmen and freshmen are
encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities varying from “sports to
clubs, which are really easy to create on your own” says Ashley. Thirty varsity
sports compose Lowell High’s athletic sector, with everyone from freshman level
to varsity level able to compete, making up a total of sixty-eight teams
(lhs.lowell.k12.ma.us/about). It is apparent that this country’s first co-ed
public school bolsters any kind of student possessing any kind of ability and
paves the way to a bright future.
Because my friend and I were aware
of what the walk back to the shuttle stop from the high school held in store
for us, we prepared ourselves for the numbing wind chills and the poorly
cleared sidewalks. We stopped at downtown’s Dunkin Donuts for a hot chocolate,
a poor attempt at defrosting our insides considering the beverage would be too
hot to drink until we were inside the shuttle. I expressed my gratitude for
Ashley and her helpfulness in giving me a physical and emotional tour of her
former school. Her kindness aided me in gathering the information I needed to
acquaint myself with Lowell High School and it’s history. Discussing this
place’s past and present triggered thoughts about it’s future. What exactly
lies ahead for Lowell High School? When I asked Ashley this question, she could
not think of anything measureable. After a long pause of what seemed to be her
commemoration of the past, she shrugged her shoulders and asserted, “I don’t
know, but definitely something or someone unique.”
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