Changes affect us all. Whether it is the time change each spring and fall, the transition that students have from summer to school, or the start of a new job. The change can be welcomed, or met with resistance, and it’s up to each person to consider how he or she handles it.

In the past few years at Alliance High School, long time teachers have been retiring bringing in new teachers, some with experience, and some right out of college. The trend of the past few years have been that the new teachers stick around for a year and then are gone.

This most recently was the case with new band director David May. May said that he is leaving due to the fact that his home is in Omaha, and that he feels “out of balance” being this far away from home, which is completely understandable.

May brought many changes to the program, which was met with anger from some, who were used to the “usual” way of the AHS band. This is just an example of change in Alliance meeting resistance. When new trends are introduced into Alliance, it is almost always met with some sort of uproar. Like when a new restaurant is opened, it seems that they have trouble gaining grounds and most seem to end up closing. This could be for a variety of reasons, but one of them may be that Alliance just has trouble adjusting to new things. Why?

The word that comes to mind to me is negativity. There are glass half full and glass half empty people everywhere, but why does it seem like the optimistic people like to keep quiet, while they watch a small group of people dictate what is okay and what isn’t? The negativity that sometimes rears it’s ugly head around here does nothing but make the people that always complain look bad, so why do it?

Normal seems to be better for most. A normal schedule that can be kept regularly, with little change and no deviation from their normal, happy life, and a little change can cause a huge uproar. I’m not saying that all Alliance people act this way, it just seems that the strongest voices are the ones that do.

Dick and Dave Rischling left a legacy at AHS with the band program. But so did Tom Osborne with the football program at the University of Nebraska with the Husker football team. As everyone knows, the Husker program is not the same that it was 20 years ago. Things change, and people need to learn to accept that.

With my position in the school as Student Council President, I was recently asked how the school could bring more “joy” to students. I believe that this mood that seems to be hanging at Alliance High School extends beyond the property of AHS. The City of Alliance has an idea that if someone or something comes in, and changes the way that things were done, that it is wrong and should be met with resistance rather than an open mind. Rumors are also a big problem. There are problems with gossip everywhere This is what has to change community wide in order to extend “Joy” to students and make AHS a more positive learning environment.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that Alliance is an excellent place to grow up, and I love living here, but the problem that has hung over Alliance for a long time now is accepting change. Running new teachers, businesses and people out of town is not something that happens everywhere, so why does it keep happening here?

The answer is cloudy, with most teachers leaving for personal reasons, or a new job somewhere else. Alliance High School is a great place to learn, but the school needs an attitude adjustment. “Joy” can be brought to this school, but not without the help of the town of Alliance. Community members need to be more supportive of changes in activities, both inside and outside the school. If Alliance can start to be more supportive to new ideas, then maybe students can start to truly enjoy their experience at Alliance High School.

Change isn’t always good, but the best that you can hope for is that everything will work out, but I guess I’m just too optimistic sometimes. I firmly believe that all of us, working together can help make the future brighter and more open to change, I hope so, and think that Alliance can be in store for great things, but not without the help of us all.