Students express mixed emotions about moving on

Rayen students will go to East, while Wilson kids will go to East or Chaney.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — High school graduates often revisit their alma mater as college students — some just to say “Hi” to a favorite teacher, others may be looking for some career advice.

Graduating seniors at Wilson and Rayen high schools this year say that’s something they’ll never get to experience.

Both of those schools are closing permanently with the end of this school year and will be torn down, replaced by new middle schools as part of Youngstown City Schools’ $190 million rebuilding program.

“We won’t have anything to come back to,” said Jasmine Stamper, vice president of the senior class at The Rayen School.

“All our teachers will be scattered,” added LaKeisha Jarmon, class valedictorian and secretary. The teachers will be reassigned to other schools in the district, she explained.

“I am privileged to be graduating in the last class, [but] I can’t come back to my high school to see my teachers,” said LeVar Riley, vice president of the senior class at Woodrow Wilson High School.

“It’s kind of mixed feelings,” said Evangelina Figueroa, president of Wilson’s senior class. “We’ll miss the old school, but we know the new school will have technology that Wilson doesn’t have.”

What is planned

Youngstown is reducing its number of high schools from three to two next fall, closing Wilson and Rayen but keeping Chaney open and opening a new East High School.

Nearly all of Rayen’s students will be going to East, while Wilson’s student body will be split about 50-50 between East and Chaney, school officials have said.

“Some kids are sad they won’t get to graduate from Wilson,” Riley said. “They’ve been here three years.”

“I know memories will be lost,” said Cecilia Ronco, co-salutatorian at Rayen this year. “Some kids are excited about the new East.”

“Some are happy, some are sad. Some just want to get out of school,” said Jaquala Riggins, the other co-salutatorian at Rayen.

Figueroa said there is some concern among Wilson students that only their school is being divided up to attend Chaney and East. “I don’t think it was fair,” she said.

“People don’t want to lose their friends going to different schools,” Riley added. “I think they should have divided up all the schools.”

“Kids don’t like to be taken out of their comfort zone. They have to start all over again. That’s difficult,” Figueroa said.

Students at Rayen are concerned about the name of the new East High School.

“It’s supposed to be a new school, a new start. They changed everything else, why not the name?” asked Jarmon.

“I like Central,” offered both Stamper and Ronco, suggesting what East might have been called.

Predicting difficulties

Students at both schools predict some difficulties during what they called the “transition period” as students from different sides of town get used to attending school together.

The people will need to respect that the kids are from two different schools, Figueroa said.

“Even though they’re going to a new school, they still have the heart of a Tiger or Redman,” Riley said.

“Some say it will be divided,” said Riggins.

“There’s problems between people representing their parts of town,” added Ronco. East Side kids will say it’s their school, based on the name, she said.

There may be some fights and property damage, Jarmon said.

However, students at both schools say all of those issues will gradually disappear within four years, as the freshmen who enter high school this fall become seniors and graduate. At that point, no one will be left who attended Wilson or Rayen high schools, they said.

Talia Hullum, senior class treasurer at Rayen, said the transition might not be as difficult as some fear.

“We’ve had so many transition meetings,” she said, explaining that a lot of steps have been taken to prepare students, so the move won’t be so chaotic.

Some will go elsewhere

Figueroa said she believes Youngstown may be losing some student athletes because of the reduction in the number of high schools. They’re choosing to leave the school system, she said.

It’s about competition, she said, explaining that some feel they may lose their spot on a team in a bigger school.

Riley said he is aware of three Wilson athletes planning to make that move. Mooney and Ursuline high schools are their likely destinations, he said.

Some students are also worried about their class academic rank, Figueroa said, figuring they may drop in rank at a larger schools.

Both Rayen and Wilson spark strong loyalty from their alumni and students, a loyalty not likely to disappear even though the buildings are gone.

Part of that is how the community comes together for school functions, Hullum said.

“They come to us when we need something,” she said.

“I think we’ve come a long way together,” Figueroa said, explaining the loyalty to Wilson.

“I think it’s just because we’ve made special bonds that are hard to break,” added Riley. “A special school builds friendships.”

“We put into what the school is,” Figueroa said. “We helped create this positive image that needed to be created. You have to be here to understand why we like it so much.”

gwin@vindy.com