Did you know that a teenage Mark Efinger once taught Rockwell Hall boys how to knit? That Head of School’s Day was once “Dickey Day” and involved a lumpy sweater instead of a field hockey stick? Through a series of anecdotes, Nancy Sizer took us back in time during Wednesday’s ASM to a very volatile period of PA history: 1973, the year of the Phillips-Abbot merger. The trouble was that very few members of the audience knew who Nancy Sizer was, what she was talking about and why they should care. Wednesday’s ASM highlighted a major issue on campus: We as students are sadly uninformed about our own school. We spend our years at Andover worrying only about the assignment due the next day. The spirit of learning and understanding the past and the present gets lost behind grades and test scores. In short, this beautiful campus and its fascinating history are in some ways wasted on us. Ask a typical Andover student what they know about PA history, and the response is a quick one: “Both George Bushes went here.” True, but that still leaves 224 years to be accounted for. Think about it: We sit in the same seats that thousands of PA kids have sat in for centuries. Our school has weathered more than record-breaking snowstorms– students have been drafted, removed from our dorm rooms to die for this country; students have protested for civil rights on our lawns. Secret societies have waged war with headmasters. Dorms have sprung up and burned down. And every year, another graduating class has left Andover hill. Each of the 14 Heads of School has left a different legacy on this institution, but Nancy Sizer’s husband Ted made a particularly significant impact during his time at Andover. Yet the Sizers’ contributions to this community are largely unknown among PA students who think they only have time for learning inside the classroom. It’s not like the opportunities to educate ourselves are unavailable. Just this week, Carlos Hoyt attached an excerpt from the Sizers’ book, “The Students Are Watching,” in his email to the entire student body. Copies of this book were also distributed to every member of the Senior class last Spring. Our ignorance is not the fault of the administration. Rather, it is our own apathy, our refusal to click on the email attachment and crack open that book. We are Andover students. We chose to come here; no one should have to force us to be curious. Despite the common teenage consensus, recreational learning is not a crime, though it is admittedly hard to find the time at PA. We can visit Tim Sprattler, School Archivist, in his office on the second floor of the library, scroll through 133 years of The Phillipian at pdf.phillipian.net or stay after class to talk to teachers about topics completely unrelated to the course material. We can take personal time from seventh period one Wednesday to talk one-on-one with the ASM speaker. However you choose to, learn about our history. You go to Andover; this is your school. Own it. This Editorial represents the views of The Phillipian Editorial Board CXXXIII.
