Elliott Cottington
Reporter
Although students spend hours in classrooms every day, the personal backgrounds of their teachers often remain a mystery. The truth is that students don’t really know their teachers very well; no one ever stops to wonder where the people that are employed to educate them were educated themselves. It may come as a surprise that there is a number of teachers who both attended and now teach at NCHS and have just as much New Canaan Pride as any alum.
The many years between graduation and employment have highlighted the subtle similarities and obvious changes at NCHS. According to schedule coordinator Paul Gallo, who graduated in 1980, the biggest changes have been regarding the appearance of the building itself. “When I was here, there was a smoking lounge,” he said. “Where the guidance office is, there was a lounge on one side and a lounge on the other side, the right side was non-smoking and the left side was smoking.”
However, for English teacher Darcy Smith, a member of the class 1988, the biggest change is the way that students interact at the high school. “Everyone used their lockers when I was a student here,” she said. “Lockers provided a home base where friends met, where crushes could strategically be encountered, and where we stored absolutely everything. Sharing a locker with a friend was a declaration of friendship. Two other friends and I had our lockers right next to each other. One locker was for our jackets, one was for books, and the third was for our sports bags. Today, it’s rare for students to actually use their lockers throughout the day if at all.”
English teacher Aaron Gallo, who graduated in 1990, noticed the support system that students have access to now is vastly different from when he roamed these halls. “The culture in the ‘80s and into 1990 was sort of like survival of the fittest, in the sense that if you didn’t do your work, you failed,” he said. “You’re on your own, there wasn’t anyone there to give you that extra support to make sure that you stayed on top of your work.”
However, History teacher Stephanie Macomber, who graduated in 2004, saw many similarities between then and now, especially in terms of society and culture. “The commitment to our community and our school and each other seems to be pretty consistent from when I was here,” she said. “It’s interesting; as I’m getting to know my students they remind me of friends I had or people I knew in high school. It’s fun because I can see similarities between my experience, and I can relate to the kids in that way because I can see what they’re going through.”
The formative years that students go through at the high school have a deep impact on their later lives. For Aaron Gallo, the experiences he cherished at the high school were what truly drove him to come back and teach. “Honestly, when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher, I didn’t really want to be a teacher anywhere; I wanted to be a teacher at New Canaan High School,” he said. “That was the experience that I cherished and felt was what contributed to making me who I am, and I wanted to be a part of that culture.”
Mrs. Smith expressed similar sentiments about her decision to teach at NCHS. “New Canaan has always been home to me. I realized what a fantastic town this is, and what a great experience I had as a student, so I thought how great would that be to teach where I learned,” she said.
Despite dramatic renovations and many changes in staff, the NCHS that is so loved and cherished by many has stood the test of time. No matter what year it is, the NCHS spirit, culture and community will always be the same. For Mrs. Smith, that spirit has been, and always will be, a part of her life. “I live here, I grew up here, I love it here,” she said.
