The Green Wave Gazette Winter 2016 | Page 5

W INTER 2016 P AGE 5 Courtside Interview with Coach Moore The veteran coach and teacher is tough but fair. Carly Goldberg Contributor Students at Abington High School might know Mr. Moore as the teacher who is serious about history, but makes learning fun with his many games and group activities, but players and fans of girls basketball probably know him better as Coach Moore, the longtime coach of the girls varsity team. Moore has been a teacher for 20 years (16 at AHS) and the girls varsity coach for the last 12 years. He also served as athletic director for three years, just prior to Mr. Serino. Becoming a Coach Moore was a student athlete in both high school (Mansfield High School) and college (Assumption in Worcester) where he played football. We asked him how he came to love both coaching and teaching. “I was lucky enough to have some of my coaches in the classroom, so I looked at it as a fantastic life. They were educators, but they could switch roles,” said Moore. This Season Victories have not come easy, but the team continues to work hard with two and a half hour practices, six days a week. “It can sometimes be a grind on the coaches and the girls, but our top goal is to improve everyday. We lost a lot of kids from last year’s team that made it to the south sectional finals. So we know that we have to fill some pretty big shoes. It’s a work in progress, but we are getting better every day. By the end of the season, I think we will be a pretty tough team,” said Moore. Coaches Point of View Coach Moore says that his coaching style is “tough but fair.” Moore wants to hold the kids accountable and encourage them to work hard every day; however he mostly wants to be reasonable. “My favorite part about coaching basketball is interacting with the kids on the court and seeing them away from the classroom. I have some of the kids in the classroom, and it’s all business there, but, then I can put on my coaches hat, go down to the court and see them working even harder,” said Moore. bright spot continues to be success of junior Jenny Worden. Just six games into the schedule, she recorded her 1,000th career point, a feat only performed by six players in the program’s history. Her accomplishment was celebrated by the team, parents and fans just prior to a recent home game vs Norwell. Coach Moore describes Worden as “hardworking, motivated and dedicated to the game of basketball.” Varsity Roster The 2015/2016 girls varsity basketball team is made up of seniors: Jen Feeney, Colleen Kearns and Hanna Rogers (C); juniors: Maggie Cawley, Sarah Cochrane, Olivia Whalen and Jenny Worden (C); sophomore: Marissa Golden; freshmen: Cailin Mahoney, Brianna McCadden, Maddie O’Connell and Kristyanna Remillard; and managers Megan Reid and Liz Venutti. Jen Clifford and Tim Clifford are assistant coaches. Coach Moore directs his team during a timeout. (Photo by Bill Marquardt) “My favorite part about coaching basketball is interacting with the kids on the court.” Coach Steve Moore Coaching Jenny Worden Thus far, the team has been balancing wins and losses, but the undeniable Construction Update: Activity and Excitement Gain Momentum While nostalgic thoughts of the current building also take shape Caitlin Walton Staff Writer The construction for the new school has begun, and AHS students are buzzing with excitement for the 2018 arrival date. Renderings of what the final product will look like have been shown to the students, and expectations are high. The blueprints call for an auditorium that seats 750 people with a connecting hallway to the gym, two cafeterias, a lecture hall and a library media center in the middle. The high school classrooms are in the right wing of the building and lower grade classrooms are in the left wing. There are also two synthetic turf fields, that are expected to open this August. A live-stream camera is set up around the outside of the high school so people can keep track of progress. (You can access it at Abingtonps.org.) No matter how luxurious the new school is, there are certain aspects about the current high school that won’t be replaced. From practicing in the Paul K. Smith Music Room, to studying in the small and quiet classrooms, everyone has something that they will miss. “I will miss my sense of direction,” said sophomore Chloe Tardanico. “Everything will be so new, and I won’t know where everything is. It will be like freshman year all over again.” The Class of 2018 is scheduled to be the first class to graduate from the new school. So, everything that was once familiar, will be gone. The classrooms where they have spent the past three years will be changed, and there will be all new surroundings. Another student, Junior Lindsey Collins, said, “I will miss all of the memories made here by past generations. This new school will be like a clean slate; it will seem like they never existed.” Although juniors and seniors won’t be here to see the new school, they have still made precious memories in the current one that they will keep for the rest of their lives: the competitions at pep rallies, decorating the hallways for spirit week, or even just sitting at lunch with friends. With high tech vent systems and gigantic hallways, it’s hard not to love the image of the new school. The whole idea of new memories (and fewer broken desks) is hard to surpass, but nothing will ever replace the generations worth of students who have left their mark on the current school. No matter how dismal it is to leave one school building behind, the excitement of a new one is infatuating. Until then, students will continue to look out the windows and watch the construction progress, and eventually, we will have a brand new school to have new experiences in. Workers prepare to pour concrete for the new athletic center on on Jan. 8, 2016. (Staff) “I will miss all of the memories made here by past generations.” Lindsey Collins