7:23 Arrive at school and first words out of my mouth are “what’s that smell?” I am suddenly reminded one major difference between Albert Lea and Austin. Spam.
First hour
Journalistic Writing with
Mr. Boelter
7:55 First class starts and I get a quick tour of the school. Lockers everywhere are painted with huge holes cut in them. Turns out Austin students have the privilege of using certain lockers as garbage cans.
DID YOU KNOW? Austin high school is the second most energy efficient school in the state, despite its age.
Connect 12
8:49 Instead of going to connect (their daily advisory) I walk into an auditorium with Lady Gaga blaring and the first person I see is ALHS’ former orchestra teacher Mr. Schott.
DID YOU KNOW? Austin was a finalist for Google Fiber. They were in the top 10 contenders in the nation and the rally was to get more students to Like it on Facebook so they can move up in the rankings. Kansas City was recently chosen. Sorry, Austin.
8:57 Kids scream, jumping up to get a T-shirt that says “I gig it.” Some guy yells “How many of you want a T-shirt?”
9:11 I turn bright red as kids stare at me while walking through the hallway. Supposedly everyone already knows why I’m there, because news travels fast in Austin, but I can still hear students asking each other “Who the heck is she?”
Third hour
Economics with Mr. Anderson
9:15 I was introduced to the class and turned even redder.
9:17 Start oil market game. I think I’ve played this game before in Bizjak’s economics class.
At this point I’d like to know why I am the only one in the entire school walking around with a book bag.
DID YOU KNOW? Students at Austin High School are not encouraged to wear book bags. It takes me back to the good ‘ol days at Southwest Middle School.
9:50 Mr. Anderson announces there will be a quiz on price floor and ceilings. Whew … I’m glad I won’t be there for that one.
Fourth hour
Study Hall with Mrs. Alberts
10:11 Someone asked me if I knew Lucy Villagomez and Sam Turrubiartes.
Fifth Hour
Communication & Relationships with Mrs. Stevenson
11:15 Class starts 13 minutes after the bell actually rings. The teacher openly encourages students to take out phones and go to the Facebook site for Google Fiber.
I’ve started to notice she isn’t the first teacher who lets students take out their cell phones and leave them on their desk for modest use.
11:27 Why does every student have some sort of juice or pop on their desk (colored liquids)? A quick trip to the vending machines proves to show they have candy and chips, too.
11:45 The third student in the class puts their head down for a nap and the teacher doesn’t bat an eye at it.
Teachers have an open-door policy and hall/bathroom passes are optional. “We all have the basic set of rules everyone follows, but the teachers can change the rules,” said my student tour guide, senior Cheyenne Sauke.
Sixth Hour
Advanced 3-Dimensional Design with Mr. Brobeck
11:59 I walk into a 3D art class and students are already working on their projects without the teacher telling them to. When he does finally come in he just sits down and helps students as necessary without getting in their business. The feeling was quite literally relaxing and I wanted to dive in with a hot glue gun.
DID YOU KNOW? Students at AHS are offered free hours. These are periods when the student can leave campus and do anything they would like. They do not receive credit for these classes.
12:02 A girl holds up proudly a wooden head with a huge grass Mohawk. When I looked carefully there was a little clay man mowing his lawn on top of the head.
12:03 Lydia, a girl with dreadlocks and paper clip earrings, happily shows me the teapot she is creating.
12:20 The teacher walks by sucking on a sucker. In any other setting I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but in school? I must have been on another planet because sucker sticks are certainly not allowed at Albert Lea High School. 106.9 KROC is turned up by the teacher and he walks away.
Along with garbage can lockers every light switch is adorned with a sticker. Each sticker has a slogan on it pertaining to saving energy.
One student came back from the bathroom and laughed as she walked through the door.
“As I was walking back to class I realized how beat up everything looks,” she said.
DID YOU KNOW? Austin High School was completed in 1921. It’s 90 years old.
12:58 Lunch lady scrapes the edge of the alfredo pan making sure I get a full serving of crunchy noodles and slaps it on my 1970s-looking green tray. I think I’m going to go hungry today.
Seventh hour
American Government with a subsitute teacher
1:17 Walk into Government and the first thing said is “who’s she?” The substitute hands out book work and proceeds to ramble aimlessly about whatever pops into his head.
“DID YOU KNOW? Austin is the only city in Minnesota without a natural lake.”
1:23 The fourth student gets up and walks out of the classroom for apparently no reason, and a student leans over to ask me if I know who Chris Beer is.
The Lots [thuh∙lots] noun (definition): Location in Austin, Minn. where individuals, stereotyped as rednecks, hang out and compare vehicles.
Austin students are just as bored of their town as Albert Lea students.
“The best part of Austin is elementary school,” a student joked.
1:48 I realized the theme of every single hallway and classroom was black and red and Austin promotional posters were hanging everywhere. Students described them in one word: Tacky
Eigth hour
Photography II with
Mrs. Beschnett
2:17 A girl yells across the classroom “Do you even go to this school?” It looks like Albert Lea isn’t the only school that quote the movie “Mean Girls” excessively.
3:00 The final bell rings and I’m jostled entering the narrow hallway, and get lost twice trying to get back to the main door.I am amazed how quickly I had adapted to this new environment. In fact, I do not even notice the infamous Austin odor as I exit the school.
