friday, november 19, 2010 14
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ALIGUTHY ‘11 second of a two part series
Back in the days of blazers and batons Veteran teachers compare the campus academics and arts then and now.
A
ACADEMICS
life without calculators, can you imagine? This life was all that was known to current math department chair, Joanne Ryan, when she began her first year at Buckley in 1984. “It was a slow change, but we were finally able to get people into the idea of letting students use a calculator,” said Ryan. “All the calculator does that we don’t have is speed and accuracy, it doesn’t make mistakes. It allows us to explore problems we’d normally see as too difficult or too tedious.” Although the advent of calculators has somewhat revolutionized the math department’s policies, the effect of these devices appears to be inconsequential. “I feel it’s important for students to know how to use technology, but really students need to be able to analyze what they see on the calculator using the knowledge that they already have,” said Ryan. The recent introduction of Smartboards to the classroom has also altered the academic environment. The boards, which were first used by the math department, provide more techniques for presenting information, such as “Calculus in Motion” and “calculator emulators.” Although modern technological
developments have altered the course of academics, the overall approach to teaching has not changed. “I don’t believe students have changed academically,” said Ryan. “I think if students feel your main interest is their success, and you work as hard as you’re expecting them to work, they will always rise to the challenge.” Ryan and other veteran teachers agree that while the academic standards have always been high, student involvement and stress have increased dramatically, including pressure to take honors courses and get A’s in all courses. The level of extrra-curricular involvement is problematic to some teachers, who fear students are over-extending themselves just to boost college resumes. “I think kids now are more stressed because the mentality is you must get an A to succeed,” said math teacher Tami Woldman. “I was a good student when I was here, but I don’t remember having to work as many hours as I see many of my students working today.” English teacher Ellen Salas said that teachers began making required weekly assignment sheets for students in approximately 1987. Salas also said that more electives were offered, including single semester electives.
“I don’t believe students have changed academically. I think if students feel your main interest is their success, and you work as hard as you’re expecting them to work, they will always rise to the challenge.” Joanne Ryan Math department chair
W
ARTS
hat has several instruments, plays rousing fight songs, and performs at every football game? You guessed it: a
marching band. In the early 1970s, the performing arts department had a 35 man marching band to cheer on the Griffin tackle football team. The band was disbanded when the football team was discontinued in the late 1980’s, and performing arts department chair, Vincent Houser replaced the marching band with a concert band. “Marching bands are important, but students learn a lot more about music by being in a concert band,” said Houser. “In a marching band, you have to worry about formations and it’s not necessarily the best way to improve tone.” Although the marching band no longer exists, remnants of their presence are still in use today. The Griffin shields that lead each Founder’s Day parade were part of the band gear, and on Halloween Dr. Larry Dougherty, head of school, appeared “in uniform” as a band member. Stage productions consisted only of the musical and the drama. The first production on the Pavilion stage, Alice in Wonderland, was considerably less ambitious than those produced today. “We didn’t have choir or theater classes, and we barely had dance classes,” said Houser. “At that time, they were good shows, but now the musicals, for the most part, are an end result of all the training students have during the year.” Houser helped expand the department by adding orchestra, choir, theater, and dance classes, which also extended extracurricular programs. With the expansion of the department came the development of Monotones, Jazz Band, Advanced Strings, Performance Lab, One Acts, Dance Festival, Culture Concerts, World Dance Festival,
Heritage Festival and Music in the Parks. Houser hopes to add Pep Band to be led by Daniel Hazlett, performing arts teacher. The band would perform at sporting events such as home basketball games in order to raise school spirit. Despite these new and diverse activities, Houser feels students have become more dedicated to a specific aspect of the arts. “I firmly believe students have become more interested and generally devoted to their particular field. I also firmly believe this is due to the charismatic, interested, and dedicated performing arts staff,” said Houser. In addition, modern technology, such as the Internet, has enhanced the quality of teaching for performing arts students. Watching videos on YouTube enables students to study “top notch” performance groups from all over the world. The visual arts department as well has experienced changes over the last 25 years. Visual arts department chair, Ellen Mahoney, recalls in 1981 the school did not have any art classes. “When I came here, we did not have any art classes, so I started classes that met regularly with assignments,” said Mahoney. “We introduced new courses such as photography, metal, computer graphic, and video.” Mahoney has also developed a collection of over 700 art books that support all art courses. Surprisingly, the art department was the first to use computers as part of regular teaching – a change that has inspired two of the three re-models of the art rooms. The visual arts department relies on individual student interest and desire for success. Since student involvement has greatly increased, more academically oriented AP and elective courses have become widespread.