/Portals/2/logos/__TFMF_ifz2gwfpsr0ikof2j1hrarjx_b49df77c-9676-4be8-a7d9-3ea4e230316a_0___Selected.jpg en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Tue, 21 May 2013 18:20:48 GMT 15 By Kaytee Comee & Mahum Jamal
“Cool,” “Can You Dig it,” “Fight the Power.” Remember these terms? Current high school students probably don’t, but Statistics teacher Troy Thiele definitely does. Merely one decade ago these alien terms were the Hot, Sweet, and Hella of today. It’s hard to visualize teachers with lives outside of the classroom, and even more difficult to imagine teachers’ high school days. Thiele attended Wausau East High School, a large public school in Wausau, Wisconsin. Growing up in the Midwest 15 years ago was certainly different than living in the Bay Area today. While Harker students usually commute by car, Thiele remembers that “some of the luckier kids [...] could ride the tractors to school.” However, some activities never change. For students today, an average weekend is going to the movies to watch the latest release. T.V. was still popular in Wausau during the ‘80’s, but Thiele said, “The idea of entertainment would be just sitting down and watching a black and white T.V. maybe on a Saturday night.” So what shows did they watch? While today’s teens are addicted to dramas like “Laguna Beach” and “The OC,” Thiele notes that popular episodes from his high school years were “Cheers,” “The Cosby Show,” “Night Court,” and “Different World.” Yet the madness doesn’t stop there. Madonna, MC Hammer, and Color Me Bad were on everyone’s playlist at the time. Similarly, the concept of pressure has altered as well. Thiele noted that while he felt pressure as a high school student, it was never a justification for slipping grades. Pressure could not be “an excuse for why things weren’t done to the best of their abilities” Thiele said. Yet the approach towards college was also different. He explained that at “this time period in the Bay Area I think that it’s a given that a student needs to go to college to have a productive adult life, whereas that was not emphasized as strongly in the area that I came from.” Nevertheless, if students were planning on going to college, “the emphasis on going to a good school was just as strong then as it is now.” One issue that hasn’t changed is the question of future professions. In Thiele’s case, his first intention was to pursue a career in sports or law, and along the way he earned a degree in engineering and coached youth soccer. Despite the fact that in high school he originally “had no desire whatsoever to be a teacher,” he eventually found his interest in math because “it was the subject area that came the easiest” to him. So what is his advice for teenagers today? After reminiscing on his high school years, Thiele advises teens to “Keep a greater sense of perspective as far as ... [emphasizing] academic performance and really and try to learn for learning’s sake and to realize there’s a balance in academic success and social success.” ]]> Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:27:00 GMT