We learn on divided ground: the middle schools. Preliminary to our education at LZHS, Middle School North (MSN) and Middle School South (MSS) are often used to distinguish students in their high school years.
How much this divide affects students at LZHS is different for each student. Matteo Gonzalez, junior and MSS alumni, says that the divide only really affects friend groups in the high school.
“I was more comfortable at the start of high school with people that went to South rather than people that went to North because [I’d] known them for longer. It’s more comfortable to talk to them and interact with them,” Gonzalez said.
Even after three years of high school, Gonzalez says his friend group still consists of mostly people from MSS.
Another aspect that the middle school split has affected according to Emily Easterday, freshman and MSS alumni, is extracurriculars. Easterday says that she still feels very connected to her MSS roots after her short time at the high school.
“I still feel like I’m totally going to South tomorrow.” Easterday said. “Choir and theater were my [activities] there and I still feel ownership over them.”
One type of extracurricular that really fuels the divide is sports. It is widely known that there is a cross-town rivalry between MSN and MSS, especially as North and South sports teams duel it out year after year. Amoga Sridhar, senior and MSN alumni, says that while this rivalry fades as students enter high school, she has encountered some people hyping up their middle school.
“I was working during the summer with some friends, and they were saying [that] [Middle School] South had more personality compared to [Middle School] North,” Sridhar said. “I’m [there] thinking ‘North was pretty good. We had [some] personality as well.’”
Despite Sridhar’s acknowledgement of the friendly competition, Easterday says the nature of the rivalry once entering high school is relatively small.
“It’s not really a spoken thing,” Easterday said. “It’s more just that everyone knows ‘North against South!’ That’s it.”
