Click here to listen to this week’s JAM – Space & Meaning.
One of our favorite provocations we have been asking groups is to think back to their high school experience and remember a space that was important to them. The prompt is an effort to remind people of the importance of place, something that has been front and center in our minds since we started this project. People have talked about a broad range of spaces, from the photography dark room to the soccer field, from the theater stage to the computer lab.
I personally highlighted two spaces. First, I remember the journalism room where we worked tirelessly writing, editing, designing and printing the weekly school newspaper. It was the late 1980s, and we were the first group to ever produce a digital version of a newspaper using Pagemaker. I especially remember the hours we spent trying to figure out the new technology. While I suspect this is not entirely accurate, in my own memory, we were allowed to be in that room until late in the night, long after everyone else had left the building. The space represented a level of responsibility and independence, a space where I and my peers were empowered to produce something authentic and meaningful for the community.
The other space was the supply room at the back of the physics classroom. As a senior, I was part of a small group of students who took an independent study physics class. The school didn’t have an advanced class, and so the teacher offered to let four of us work together, periodically checking in on our progress. It was a small space, full of science supplies, and we grabbed a mixture of stools and chairs to sit at while working. Why was it so memorable? It was a space where I was able to direct my own learning, where the adult in charge trusted me and others to be academically curious and engaged without constantly tracking us or looking over our shoulders.
What is consistent between the spaces I highlighted and the ones that most people have shared is that they were all spaces where we, as high school students, felt a strong sense of ownership and belonging. They were spaces where we were able to pursue a passion – soccer, the arts, independent study, spaces where we did things that mattered to us. In most of these cases, they were things that we did for an audience – not just our teacher – adding to the sense that they meant more than a typical assignment.