I'm an alumnus of RHS, class of 1994. I don't recognize the names of any of the principals or students that have come and gone since 2003, but it is amazing how the words of Ms. Elnora Wood ring true, "...high school pupils are the same, year in and year out."
Great piece or writing.
Vaughn Marshall
5/17/07
Amazing how for all that New-England charm this reminds me basically of the high school I went to in Terre Haute. There's something about football and teen pregnancy...
Elizabeth
5/2/07
I really like the imagery in this piece. The people seem resigned, sad, maybe desolate.
The quote transitions are interesting, and the last one is really strong, but I would have liked to see a more fluid connection between the different sections. They are all part of the same story, but they read like different ones...I think each section should work as a piece of a bigger picture.
Joanna Price
4/30/07
A great piece of writing. I realized after I'd finished that I read it with my stomach in a big horrible knot--it brought back high school so vividly, on so many levels, that I was nearly back there again (and it's been a long time since I graduated from high school...). You took us inside the classrooms and hallways--the chipped orange lockers, the palimpsest walls--onto the football field and straight into the my space profiles of recent graduates. It's a real port-hole into contemporary high school life, and because of that, it's edgy and unsettling. Just like high school.
I'd even like to see a follow-up piece: follow 2 or 3 seniors through the school year, and see what happens to them. It's a year of monumental decisions, stresses, friendships...That would be really interesting. Carlson is such a good writer that she could do a tremendous job with it.
pamela petro
4/28/07
You've turned what easily could have been over-looked as simple or mundane into something genuinely beautiful-I loved the way you punctuated your writing with quotes that were just as breathtaking as the image you 'gave' Rockville in your piece.
I want a movie made...
LM
4/24/07
Read the story, "Dazed & Confused."