The High School Experience: Teacher’s Edition

Marilyn Keating, staff writer

The advice that is always passed down to students entering high school is to “cherish it because before you know it, it’ll be over.” 

One person who embodies this belief is Mr. Sommo, Physical Education teacher, soccer, basketball, and baseball coach, and also graduate of New Providence High School.

Sommo graduated in 2007 along with his coworker Mr. Siracusa, another Physical Education teacher. Ironically, the two would joke about coming back to NPHS to teach while they were still in school. 

Looking back, Sommo truly enjoyed his high school experience. Like all high school students, he did his best to balance his academics, with sports and a social life. He was in standard academic classes, and played soccer and baseball for all four years of high school. He played basketball too, but quit because at the time he just wasn’t that into it. Now, however, he regrets his decision to quit, as he values the camaraderie that only a team can provide. Also, one of his most notable memories of high school was when he won the Sectional Championship for baseball his sophomore year. And, to this day, Sommo still has a core group of friends from high school that he’s very close with, which is really special. 

Coming back to work as a teacher after being a student is a big change. Sommo worked as a substitute in the high school before applying and getting a job, which made the transition easier. However, now, he’s definitely on the other side of things. 

The people that Sommo went to high school with played a huge role in his overall experience. Now, he works with some of his old teachers: Mrs. Axt, Mr. McGeechan, Mrs. Gumerlock, Dr. Hasson, Mrs. Hornstein, and Mr. Keany; and again it’s the people, everyone goofing around with him, telling him to call them by their first name, that makes his teaching experience better.

Occasionally, Sommo misses high school, and so he always tells students, “Try not to take it for granted, enjoy it while you’re here. You get to spend time with friends and see them on a daily basis.” 

Not to mention, there are different pressures that come with being an adult, as opposed to a high school student. One thing about being an adult, though, that people look forward to is the freedom, and yet he points out that students are still granted a lot of freedom in school, with open lunch, for example. 

Technology has played a role in shaping the societal pressures that high school students are under today. However, despite the fact that when Sommo was a student he wasn’t as dependent on technology, he still faced the same pressures after graduating, but was, “probably naive to them.” His parents expected a lot from him but didn’t add any extra pressure, and that rubbed off on the type of person Sommo is today: he places a lot of stress on moral values, teamwork, and working towards a common goal. Overall, Sommo’s high school experience shaped the person that he is today and if given the choice to go back and be a student when he was, he would.

It’s important that high schoolers today enjoy their experience while it’s happening, because remembering high school as the “good old days” will be too late. So, always remember the cheesy advice that is repeated to every high schooler: enjoy it while it lasts.