Shadows return, Vets students visit Toll Gate

By Nathanael Demoranville
Posted 5/17/16

Last week one would say spring emerged. The sun was shining, and any gloom that had preceded it was gone. Shadows disappeared everywhere except for Toll Gate High School. On Friday, there were about 50 shadows at the school. Not

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Shadows return, Vets students visit Toll Gate

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Last week one would say spring emerged. The sun was shining, and any gloom that had preceded it was gone. Shadows disappeared everywhere except for Toll Gate High School.

On Friday, there were about 50 shadows at the school. Not weather related, but Vets freshmen hosted by Toll Gate students. Sophomores have a turn at shadowing this Friday, and the juniors visit next Thursday.

The Toll Gate Welcome Committee, a group of students and teachers, organized the event to greet the incoming students. They’re also putting together a field day barbecue on June 9 for the families of Vets kids going to Toll Gate next year.

Tim Kane, assistant principal at Vets, spent the day at Toll Gate, too. He said Principal Gerry Habershaw “went to Pilgrim so these Vets kids get a familiar face, administratively, on either side of the city.”

According to Kane, about 160 to 170 Vets students will attend Toll Gate next year, but there are still 50 or so open spots. From 400 to 500 Vets students will attend Pilgrim, a school already close to 1,000 students. “Pilgrim’s gonna be packed. That’s just a reality,” Kane said.

He feels that “it’s been a trying year” at Vets. About two weeks ago, he explained, a custodian was trapped for a couple hours in the elevator. That same day, the elevator company was even at Vets beforehand. Kane said the fire department had to come and force the doors open to get them out.

This incident seems emblematic of the state and condition of Vets, but Kane is glad to be going to Toll Gate.

“I think this school’s a little more put together. The facilities are better,” he said.

His son, Noah, will also be going to Toll Gate, where he will continue to play hockey. He’s looking forward to it, as are his Vets classmates. As Kane said, “[they] were excited to come over.”

One of the freshmen who shadowed, Jazlynn Duru, had a really positive experience.

“I love it. I love it here,” she said. When asked why, she responded, “because it’s clean. Everyone’s nice, kind of too nice.”

Her host, Toll Gate student Amber Lyde, was excited to play the role of guide. They were matched up through their common interest in art. While Duru will have a long commute, she is excited to be at Toll Gate next year with her new friend.

One thing Duru received at Toll Gate was a free welcome shirt. The Welcome Committee designed and ordered about 150-200 shirts for faculty and incoming students. The theme is United Together as two arms, each representing the Toll Gate Titans and Vets Hurricanes, respectively, come together in a handshake.

The idea and execution came from three leading members of the committee, Dave Hagopian, Jim Kennedy and Shana Willis. Kennedy came up with the idea for the handshake to show unity, and Shana’s mom, Gloria Barber, used Photoshop to ultimately make the design. The three Toll Gate teachers then reached out to Frank Kowalik at Sandy Lane Sports. A Vets alumnus, he made them at cost, turning down a profit to help out the kids at his old high school.

Kennedy said, “Once the conversation about consolidation began, the teachers immediately started talking about how to make it as smooth as possible.” The goal behind the committee, he said was, “to ease the transition.”

So far, they’ve hosted an orientation assembly for parents and students, made shirts, organized the shadow days, and planned the cookout, which Hagopian says will be a day to “celebrate and welcome.” The National Guard is even bringing a rock wall.

Through the welcome committee’s actions, a sense of unity is already building between the soon to be Titans and current Toll Gate students.

Many of the students were asking Kennedy how they would tell who was from Vets. He remarked that they soon came to realize that, “it’s weird. They look just like us.”

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