MRHS 20th Anniversary: Meet Inaugural Student and Staff Member William Adamsky and Logan Janes
by Anabella V.
This week, 2 members of the MRHS inaugural staff/graduating class: William Adamsky and Logan Janes are asked questions regarding their memories of an early Mountain Range.
Adamsky begins,
Q: How did parts of your youth or your years leading up to becoming a teacher influence your career choice?
A: "I entered college as a Computer Science major and soon realized I didn't have the skills or interest to pursue that degree. Then one day one of my English professors took me aside and basically told me that if I didn't change my major to English Education I would have missed my true calling and likely regret it for the rest of my life. So I changed my major the very next day and here I am."
Q: What are some of your hobbies and interests that students may be surprised/interested to learn about?
A: "I am a semi-professional musician on the side. My band (whom I play guitar for and co-manage) plays 60-70 shows a year all over Colorado and I make a pretty decent second income from it."
Q: What are some core memories of an early MRHS?
A: "We were all so young and clueless that we really bonded as an inaugural staff. We'd go out together practically every Friday after school to wind down and talk about our day and laugh together. We became really close as a sort of survival strategy, especially because that first year was rough with only 9th and 10th graders in the building."
Q: What do you wish you could bring back from the year 2006?
A: "Cheap beef."
MRHS History teacher, Logan Janes, is not an inaugural staff member, but a part of the first Mountain Range graduating class turned faculty member. Janes chronicles his time at MRHS, commemorating his experiences and the difference of attending Mountain Range as a student vs. staff member.
Q: How do you remember Mountain Range as a student? How do you view it now as a teacher?
A: "I remember when I first came here, I was just amazed that it was so high tech and cool. I had come from Thornton High School, which was kind of an older school. “Now that I’m back as a teacher, I definitely see that a lot of the wall hookups are the same, and so it kind of loses that high tech edge.” He continues, explaining that the environment of the beginning of MRHS was very organized and regimented. “Everyone had to wear their IDs 24/7, no off-campus allowed.” Janes recognizes that in comparison to now, MRHS has loosened up on certain rules."
Q: What was most prominent in pop culture when you were a teenager?
A: “[We] kind of had that emo music craze. Twilight was starting to become big. I remember “All The Single Ladies” being a big thing in music. Now, the new music, media, and teen culture is scary to me.” Janes views new trends as a reminder of time passing, doing his best to avoid any new pop culture references that he is no longer caught up with.
Q: Do you see commonalities between students then and student’s now?
A: "Everyone likes to think their generation is different, like: “We weren’t like that when we were [your age]. Everyone’s kind of the same. Teenagers are always up to the same things. I think the biggest difference now is just phones and technology. When we [older generation of MRHS students] had our off periods, we had nothing. It was come up with something to fill your time. The cafeteria was really loud, people were always talking or doing something. I remember we created a whole poker game that we played in the cafeteria where we had our own poker chips. But now, kids just sit in groups staring at their phones."
Janes recalls memories he has with inaugural staff members he had as teachers, now turned coworkers. An especially significant memory Janes has is one with MRHS’ very own William Adamsky.
A: "I remember the first year, he told us [Adamsky’s class] that he was trying to get the word “bitchin’ to come back."
Janes personally believes this “fetch” phrase won’t make its comeback as Adamsky has believed for the past 25 years, but for now, time will only tell.
