Posted at 02:44h in
Info/News 
No, not "old school" as in an old photograph, or even a comedy movie reference, but literally... old school. Like... driving back to the small town I attended high school at, a place I've maybe visited twice since graduating about 11 years ago now. A defining moment I think is brewing in this old town. It's something you can kinda smell in the air, lots of exciting things just around the corner for this place. In short, the town of Toledo, WA is hurtin'. The community as a whole (including schools, residents, and the local businesses) is slowly eroding away, something Toledo has witnessed within the towns that share it's very boarders. People new and old, past and present residents don't want to see it fade away in the wind, and they are trying to do something about it. They've created "vision: Toledo," a group of community members who are pulling together to see what they can do inject life back into Toledo. Being a past resident and student myself, I found it important to do what I could to join the movement. I think attending a small school, actually getting to call everyone in the school by their first names, literally knowing each and every person in the school, and feeling that true sense of community is a privilege. I've moved a lot in my life and I got a steady taste of larger schools. In the bigger places it seems like you are just another kid in the giant herd, another tally to an already large number of students, and never really getting that sense of community, cause... well that community is just so big you never really get the full scope of things. I made the conscious decision to attend the Toledo school, see what all the small town fuss was about. Turns out it really was a different kind of experience, something that felt more meaningful, more substantial. Everything from having a better relationship with all the teachers, to sports, to not having to use last names with every peer reference... it was nice. I think I turned out different, better than I would have than if I had attended a larger school, maybe even leaving school feeling like I had a better grasp on my own identity.
