Columbia ‘96-’00

My one contention with the South-Orange Maplewood community is the less than stellar support some residents have given to the students, faculty, and staff of Columbia High School.

I am an alumnus of Columbia. I entered HS in 1996. At that time Columbia was spiraling into an abyss of negativity.  Students were blasted in all directions with negative sentiments about the education we were receiving.  On the first day the class of 2000 (of which I was a part) walked under the Blue Ribbon banner of academic excellence awarded to our school district.  It was hung above the wooden front doors of CHS. This distinction recognized CHS as a top high school in the country. However, according to the accounts that followed us students into our first years at the school, that award was the beginning of the end.

The reputation of Columbia became so tarnished that a panel of CHS students was assembled by the school district to meet with residents in living rooms throughout both communities to talk about why we loved our school. As a member of one such panel,  I recall sitting around a circle in a house in South Orange explaining how wonderful my education at Columbia HS was, and why all residents should send their kids to CHS rather than consider a private school. IT WAS UNREAL. Imagine a child telling adults not to believe rumors because rumors aren’t true… ’still have my thank you letter as a Student Ambassador Panel Discussion Series participant in 1999 from Peter P. Horoschak.  [Superintendent. School District of South Orange and Maplewood Board of Education.]

The panel of students was as necessary at that time as was the establishment of the South Orange-Maplewood Community Coalition on Race. The need for the Community Coalition on Race touches on the type of diversity that Columbia High School began to embody in the 1990s. CHS experienced so much struggle and strife because of what it was becoming: a racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse community of students.

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“I remember a time, 10 years ago, when people were giving up on Maplewood/South Orange.  A time when we were seeing our schools and our neighborhoods becoming more and more segregated.  The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race has been a strong partner in reversing that trend,” - Chip Madsen, former School Board member and trustee of the Coalition

Quote taken from South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race fund raising letter dated November 21, 2008

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I believe that my year didn’t lose much of our morale from the negative smear campaigns on our school.  It was clear however that our teachers were not holding up so well. Our teachers went from being “the best” to “not so good,” struggling with their new reputation as well as with securing contracts with the school district.  At that time discussion existed as well about the academic tracking of students at CHS, and a huge debate was raging on the achievement gap.  That was the year a Town Hall was called in the district so that parents and students could read and then have a group discussion on “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity by Beverly Daniel Tatum. (I remember being given a copy from my two-time, all-time hardest teacher Ms. Carolyn Johnson who teaches English at CHS.  I credit her with both my ability to analyze literature as well as my composition skills.)

This site would be doing a disservice to the staff, teachers, and students of Columbia, as well as the education I received, if it focused only on the trials and tribulations experienced since the 1990s.  I haven’t walked the halls as a student since 2000, though  I have been back throughout these last 8 years to visit teachers and administrators.  Columbia gave me the foundation to excel in college and beyond.  Throughout, my connection to developments at the high school has been maintained.   We now have two CHS alumni in my family.  My younger sibling recently graduated.

Columbia offers so much to its students by way of academics, extra-circular clubs, and sports.  Every year students and their coaches and advisers compete at the county, state, and national level and every year they win awards or progress into the semi-finals or finals, bringing the Columbia brand to various arenas.

In future entries on this site I will:

• Compile information on the 2006-2007 successes of Columbia High School students by way of information from the New Jersey School Report Card.

• List the Advanced Placement Courses offered at the High School, and explain their significance in our schools reputation and our student’s collegiate success.

12/16/2008. Update 1 Entry titled “C [olumbia] ++ 4 Students”

• List the various sports, clubs, and organizations offered at Columbia as well as their achievements in 2008-2009.

12/16/2008. Update 1 Entry titled “C [olumbia] ++ 4 Students”

• Identify and match areas for youth development at CHS. [I will pinpoint the various clubs and organizations that would greatly benefit from any volunteer time community residents with matching skills and professional knowledge could invest towards student growth and development.]

11/17/2008. Update 1 Entry titled “Match Your Knowledge/Skill to a CHS Student Activity.“

12/17/2008. Update 1 Scholarships for Students.

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Images of Columbia on New Years Eve ‘08

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© W. S. Hughes 2008