As I walked into Free State High School on Friday, Sept. 12, I imagined myself as a European settler, leaving the mother country and setting foot on new soil in America. I was an ambassadors of an old culture, rich in tradition and set in its ways, experiencing for the first time something new—a culture both markedly differently, yet not entirely unique.
I entered the office and took a seat in one of the two comfy green chairs that guarded the ends of a low couch. The air and atmosphere were subtly unique in this school. Everything appeared very neat and organized, and the entire building was overwhelmingly, relentlessly, oppressively green.
I followed my guide, junior Bailey Schaumburg, out of the office and through the hallways. They were very big hallways. Probably 30 feet separated the large half lockers on either side of the avenue, leaving ample room for both foot traffic and the social circles that clog the hallways at Lawrence High.
We walked into first hour American History and sat down. Two concentric semi circles of desks rested on the carpeted floor. Every classroom is carpeted at Free State. The desks themselves were plain, with no marks or scratches. Apparently no one had taken the time to carve “I was here.” The walls also were clean, just posters and pictures to break the monotony, nothing out of place. I found nothing too unusual about the room until I looked at the clock.
In large red numerals, a digital clock displayed the time: 8:04. Perhaps it was silly of me to notice the digital clock, but after spending three years at Lawrence High, seeing a digital clock in a classroom really alarmed me. It reminded me again that I was not in my old world.
Throughout the rest of the day I noticed other subtle differences between the buildings. For instance, of the classrooms I visited all had stacks of Kleenex boxes, and nowhere did I see a water-stained ceiling panel.
The physical discrepancies are to be expected; after all Free State is only 13 years old while Lawrence High is old enough to be a sophomore’s grandparent. However, the way in which the physical layout of the school shapes the social layout is what makes Free State unique.
The cafeteria at Free State offers a perfect example. The students were nice, and everyone I encountered treated me well. However, something was different. Free State is a friendly school but not in the same way Lawrence High is a friendly school.
“We have a really big lunch room,” sophomore Miranda Davis said “It seems like everyone just sits with who they’re friends with. There’s not really a whole lot of interaction between groups because there’s a whole lot of empty space.”
The same pattern recurs throughout the school. In the hallways, in the commons and in the classrooms, social groups are allowed so much room that they do not have to interact if they do not want.
“The general atmosphere is very friendly, but [at lunch] it can be pretty hard to find people to sit with unless you have a specific group of friends,” junior Patrick Carttar said. “And you form these little islands of people you know. That kind of makes it so you don’t really ever see or talk to people who aren’t your friends. We just have friendly ignorance.”
Free State High School is different. Of course any student enrolled at either school could come to that conclusion without spending a day at the other, but very few could offer an explanation. How and why are Lawrence High and Free State distinct?
Tradition is one obvious answer. While Lawrence High has a tradition for virtually every school function, Free State is in the process of establishing its own set of customs. In fact, over half of the students with whom I talked balked when asked what traditions they have. Even those seniors who could name a few admitted that Free State was largely devoid of traditions.
However, this is not what separates the two schools. It is only natural that Free State lacks many traditions, and it is only natural that many of the traditions the school has mirror those at Lawrence High. The Fire-Starter dance and Encore are mere variations of their Lawrence High equivalents. This is to be expected. Where tradition is concerned, imitation leads to emulation and eventually to something unique. Free State is working toward its own culture.
What makes the two schools different is not the students or the teachers, these aspects are essentially the same. Nor is the lack of tradition at Free State solely accountable for the differences. The answer is location.
In the same way that New York City is different from London, Free State is different from Lawrence High. The students and teachers are equivalent, and the facilities, though not necessarily equivalent, offer the same opportunities to the students. Free State is simply put: a variation of Lawrence High. Free State has only a developing culture and lacks a distinctive attitude, but in emulating its mother school, Free State has begun to create a culture of its own.
Free State students visited LHS the same day. Read their stories here and here.