In case you haven’t noticed there is a new high school in Bethel Park. Gone are the days of the eight building, campus-style high school that adorned 309 Church Road from 1959 to 2012. It was one of, if not the most, important symbols of Bethel Park and something unique that set itself apart from other high schools. Now we have the new school, a singular building stocked with the latest technology. But it seems as if no one is truly happy with the decision.
The new high school wasn’t without its share of controversy. Many citizens were outraged at the decision to build a new high school. They argued that the campus was fine the way it was and a new building was unnecessary.
I never sided either way. There has been talk of a new high school since 2006 and the new building was approved in 2008. I wasn’t even a high school student when the board came to its decision, and ground for the new building was broken in the first semester of my freshmen year.
I had no attachment to the campus. To me they were a bunch of buildings where I took classes. I ignored every complaint I heard about the new school being built. I just didn’t care.
The 2011-2012 school year came and it was announced we’d move to the new school on January 30, 2012. None of it phased me. All the talk of the new school made me think even less of the campus. Every day I would walk on campus and across the street I’d see the $80 million behemoth; bright and mesmerizing. On the campus it was dull and uninspired.
Since the first day, it was imminent we were moving from the campus. It was thoughts I had since stepping onto campus my first day of freshman year.
This campus was supposed to be special. It was supposed to be our school. The only problem was it never felt like my school. It always felt as I was waiting on hold until something better was to come along.
The time came closer and closer for the new school to come and I still felt nothing until one day…
It is a day that though I don’t remember quite vividly, but I’ll probably remember it the rest of my life. It was the day that I truly felt an emotion about the campus.
It was January 16, 2012 and Dr. Jansante was giving an orientation presentation for the new high school to the senior and junior classes. Now I don’t remember much of the speech but Dr. Jansante delivered the line, “We could have made you graduate from the old campus, but we wanted you to have an experience in the new campus.”
The line resonated with me in a way that shocked me. I sat there and didn’t listen to another word of the assembly because I was too busy thinking, “What is wrong with this campus?”
This was the campus where thousands of students spent their adolescent years growing and maturing into productive members of society. It was where their fondest memories of their teenage years were made and where friendships that would last a lifetime were forged.
Most importantly it was the school where my father, mother and brother all graduated from high school, an accolade I will never get to experience or share with them.
It was a moment of bittersweet clarity that upset me. I was becoming nostalgic for something I never felt an attachment to.
It dawned on me that it didn’t matter what building I graduated from, but I get to share memories of Bethel Park High School with everyone in my family. Into adulthood we tend to look back on youth with rose tinted glasses, and some things are never quite what they felt like. Something though that sticks out vividly twenty years from now will have to have some meaning.
Some miss the old high school and it’s a very natural feeling to have, but to put down the new campus is unnecessary. We’ve been here for less than a month and that isn’t enough time to truly form an opinion on a building that will be used by students for years to come.
Even though most of the students who are reading this article will probably never get to truly take full advantage of the facility, imagine a kid sitting in an elementary classroom right now. When he gets to high school, he will attend one of the most modern schools in the State and it will be because we led the way and didn’t let our nostalgia hold back on progress that will benefit the future generations.
