Andover High School - Andanno Yearbook (Andover, MA)

Page 15 text:

A Better School labs have extensive, up-to-date equipment which affords the students a deeper explana- tion and understanding of life. So is it true of the math lab which has been furnished with electric calculators and a small computer. The business department also has new electric typewriters and other apparatus making this course more interesting and useful in the future. Each section has a conference room to be used for seminars, group discussions, or teachers' meetings. In addition there is a general large group room capable of seating one class. This room also lends itself well to group teaching, lectures, films, and discus- sions and is a vital part of the new academic atmosphere. The library is a truly impressive part of the school. It is equipped with a general read- ing section, study cubicles for more privacy, and other added facilities. The book ca- pacity is twelve thousand volumes, more than sufficient for the projectedschool popula- tion of eighteen hundred students. The tapes and films supplied by the audio-visual de- partment have been catalogued like books to facilitate general school use. The athletic department has been furnished with a huge, beautiful gym with partitions to divide the floor space into sections according to the needs of various activities. The playing fields are surely adequate for the highest attendance at the school. There are two baseball fields, a track, a football held, and tennis courts to provide recreation areas not only for the students but also for the town as a whole. ln all, the new Andover High School has made available to all future students the chance for a Worthwhile education through ultra-modern facilities and new curriculum plans. Yet, to make this knowledge attainable is all the teachers can do and the deeper research and tetainment of facts is left to the student. With the almost unlimited pos- sibilities of successful learning in this school, does it not seem only reasonable that stu- dents capitalize on them? The students who spent the first semester of 1968 in the school exhibited their ability to adjust easily to a different environment and their eagerness to learn and thus to suc- ceed.

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To A New School On February 2, 1968, a dreary winter day, the dreams born in the spring of 1966 fi- nally became reality as the student body piled books into brown paper bags and trans- ferred the nucleus of their present education to the new high school. Shrouded in a thick haze, the school loomed ahead of the students as a challenge, a mystery, and for most the beginning of a new academic attitude. First impressions of the school's entrance varied widely, without a doubt, as we walked through the front door, some thought or opinion, favorable or not, flashed through our minds. The windows on both sides of the front hall, overlooking the cafeteria, are still a popular subject for discussion, as are the poured-cement walls. The cement was modeled to resemble wood paneling and has produced a uniquely modern effect in the school. This practice is becoming a major part of architecture as it is being adopted in colleges, high schools, and other public buildings throughout the world. Proceeding up the stairs into the main lobby, the large blue banner proclaiming the name of the school in gold letters was one of the first things to catch the eye. Perhaps for the first time many realized then that the long-awaited move had been accomplished and that a new building with opportunities to acquire modern, useful knowledge con- fronted the student. This was somewhat of a challenge-a challenge to see if Andover High School students could realize the necessity and excitement of learning and strive to achieve high goals in education. The introduction of bright colored walls, although seemingly gaudy or useless, is sup- posed to have a psychological effect on the student, awakening his senses and thus giv- ing him the necessary awareness for studying. One of the aids to reaching the higher learning objectives is the departmental division of the school with new educational devices which provide the possibility of concen- trated and specialized work. The language department now has a language lab to de- velop, through the use of tapes, listening comprehension and fluency in foreign lan- guages. Industrial arts has acquired much new machinery and tools, all designed to give the student applicable knowledge and experience in the industrial fields. The science

Page 16 text:

It started as noise and dust, 6 um 4 I. and turned into a foundation and mud. Then there were empty halls and the skeleton of a building. At last a building stood waiting.