Everybody remembers the high school they went to. We knew our own high schools like the backs of our hands. We could and probably still can navigate our high schools with our eyes closed if we were to go back and visit them today. High schools are constructed in many unique shapes and sizes. From what I understand upon listening to my friends reflections on their high school experiences, some high schools in the state of Florida are not comprised of just one building. In fact, they are a set up more like a college campus with many different buildings connected by outdoor walkways. However, my high school up in Buffalo, NY was constructed far differently from any school in Florida or even in New York. The way my high school was physically designed greatly influenced the type of student I am today at the University of Florida.
I graduated from Williamsville East High School in 2009. My high school was built as an educational experiment of the 1970’s. The school looks like a giant three-story cube from an aerial view. It is comprised of just one building; it is not set up like a college campus with multiple buildings and outdoor walkways because that type of school would not work very well with Buffalo snowstorms. My high school is famous for its open classrooms on the second and third floors, which lack interior walls that would normally enclose a classroom on all four sides. Every time I try to explain this to someone who has never walked through Williamsville East High School gets very confused when they hear my school has “no walls” on the inside. The easiest way to imagine our open classrooms is to think about them as office cubicles. The walls are very thin and only enclosed three sides of every room, with the exception of two rooms on the second floor and two rooms on the third floor, all of which are located in the far corners of the building. Some of the walls are actually rows of lockers that simply divided a classroom from a hallway. The open side of the classroom where the fourth wall is supposed to be leads into the hallways, so students sitting in a class can see everybody walking in the hallways. Without fourth walls, there are no doors in these classrooms.
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| An aerial view of Williamsville East High School's campus |
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| A street view of Williamsville East High School |
One of the benefits of having door-less classrooms that lead into to the hallways is minimized hallway traffic. The open classrooms of Williamsville East give students much more freedom to do as they please. The school creates an environment that can either be beneficial or detrimental to a student’s academic success depending on how a student uses his or her freedom. One disadvantage is that it is harder to hear your teacher speak when you can hear many surrounding teachers speaking in different classrooms as well. However, students at Williamsville East usually adapt to this and learn to focus better on their own teacher. I believe this has helped me a lot in college, especially in large lecture halls where you can hear hundreds of students talking and it is hard to hear what the professor is saying. Also, an advantage of being able to hear many different lectures at Williamsville East is the entertainment. Some of my favorite teachers were the loud, obnoxious, yet passionate teachers like Dr. Redmond, Mr. Nogowski, Mr. Kryder, and Ms. Smith, who could always be heard from other classrooms. Their lectures are both humorous and inspiring. Sure, you get to hear teachers yelling and laughing, throwing a recycling bin at the chalkboard, whipping a piece of chalk past the ear of a disruptive student and shattering it against the back wall of the classroom. More importantly, you understand the charisma that these teachers have. I definitely believe I have had far better and more passionate teachers in high school than I have had in college.
Aside from the physical structure and the auditory effects of open classrooms, the policies set by the authoritative staff at Williamsville East High School allow an incredible amount of independence for students. I have learned to discipline myself to show up to classes in college because the teachers at Williamsville East put the onus on the students to be at class on time and meet the expectations of the curriculum. Instead of having mandatory lunch periods or study halls, we had “free periods” during which we could go to the library (which by the way was one giant room in the middle of the third floor, surrounded by thin five-foot dividers and bookshelves that separated it from all the classrooms), meet with teachers and advisors, eat lunch in the cafeteria, or use the computer lab. Having a free period at Williamsville East is exactly like having a free period in college, but you are not allowed to leave the building without the principal’s permission. Williamsville East is a great place to learn time management skills. I used to have Varsity Ice Hockey practice immediately after school, so I had to make my schedule wisely. During my senior year, I ate lunch during fourth period, did as much homework as possible during fifth period, then got to the rink early during ninth (last) period to get ready for hockey practice. If I didn’t have practice immediately after school, I probably had a game later at night. In that case, I still had to utilize my free ninth period to go home early and get started on my homework. If my free periods were mandatory lunch periods or study halls, I would not have been able to adapt my academic schedule in favor of my athletic schedule.
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| Williamsville East High School Hockey |
My discipline and time management skills that I perfected in high school have helped me tremendously as a student-athlete at the University of Florida. I am grateful to have attended a high school that was not considered normal compared to all the other high schools in Buffalo, NY.
