Looking Back: The History of Niskayuna High School's School Newspaper

A headache is forming after concentrating so hard on the lesson, luckily, you sit right next to the window. Tearing your eyes away from the teacher speaking, you peer out the window and what do you see grazing on the field outside? Cows. That would cause enough panic to stop the class today, but what about in the year 1957? How would it feel like to be in such a small school, that in the newspaper they write about who started fashion trends? That might be mind boggling now, but in 1957 and 1958, it was normal. For all the dry, lengthy textbooks we read in history, it can be hard to believe we have our own Niskayuna high school history books: the school newspapers. There are editions that go all the way back to the first year the Niskayuna High School was built, 1957, all the way to today. Reading through them, I learned about what the time was like then and was able to identify significant differences and similarities from there to now. 

COVID-19 is a hot topic that is always mentioned in conversations today. But, in the newspaper of November 18, 1957, in a Christmas article “Have You Caught It?” there is a mention of the Asian Flu. How significant was this flu if they mentioned it and assumed people would know about it? In 1957, the Asian Flu caused a global pandemic! Does that sound similar? It may not have been as bad as the Coronavirus pandemic we’re experiencing now, but who would've thought that in the first year of the Niskayuna High School, they were experiencing something similar to what we are now. 

Today’s school newspapers are full of political controversy. It was a big deal in 1957 too, but with school elections. Pages of a newspaper made in 1957 highlighted the upcoming student council election, giving profiles on all the 40 candidates. In addition to informing the students about their choices, it gives us an idea of what the students' hobbies were back then. 17 of the students participate at a church, 28 are in clubs, the clubs that were mentioned most were G.A.A, Dramatics club and Newspaper club. 23 participated in sports, while 3 students were in the explorer scouts. When reading, I noticed how in the profiles they always mentioned how you participated in the church if you did. Between this and the variety of articles about Christmas, the archives illustrate the religious beliefs during that time, and how much they valued these beliefs. Today, I believe we can find a more variety of religious ideas being portrayed at the high school. Over time, more religious ideas have been accepted and expanded, now creating a greater diversity among the students at Niskayuna High School.

When Don Herbert, a well known scientist, also known as “Mr. Wizard”, was coming to Niskayuna High School, it was a big deal. A whole section was written about him and his accomplishments. But, at the end of the article they also praised how he’s a constant pipe smoker. Today, smoking is not encouraged, but I guess it was way different in 1958. Imagine if “chain smoker” was something you advertised about a role model for students! Things have definitely changed from then and now. 

In the article, “How Big’s Your World?”, it talks about how much do you know and how much does your world expands from Niskayuna. In it, it asks questions seeing how much you know about the United States and problems in the world. Now, I ask you, how much do you know about what’s happening in our world, or an easier question, in this High School? Niskayuna High School is like our own little world or civilization, in it there are different types of people, political figures/political elections, athletes, and more. Just like the real world, we have problems that occur and affect many people in this HIgh School. You don’t need to know everything about the outside world and everything that’s going on, but look around, and see what’s going on here. We have issues that need solving and a variety of things to explore. While I learned a lot about the students from 1957 and 1958, they also taught me about the present and how things have changed from then to today. School election winners (November 18, 1957)

Don Herbert (February 14th, 1958)