Making history: LHS senior compiling the Sachem story for the first time

LACONIA — In some ways, the history of Laconia High School is already written on its walls. From the auditorium that replaced the gym and the library that was once the cafeteria, to the cafeteria that used to be a dirt-surfaced indoor track, the building is a living monument to its own many reinventions. 

But beyond that, the school has lacked a comprehensive collection of its own history. That is, until now.

Knowing that her graduating class, the class of 2024, would be the 100th to graduate from the current LHS building, senior Lily Lescarbeau set out to compile a historical timeline of the school. LHS moved to its current Union Avenue location in 1923 from its previous home on Academy Street in what is now the district courthouse. 

Lescarbeau’s work is under the banner of the high school’s “Diploma of Distinction” program, where eligible seniors are invited to complete a yearlong passion project to both showcase their academic abilities and leave behind a continuing community impact.

Lescarbeau, a self-proclaimed history lover, knew she wanted to develop this timeline before even starting the diploma of distinction program. 

Why? Well, she said, because no one else had. 

“With local history, I think it's just important to keep a record,” Lescarbeau said. “I would love it if we could keep a good, solid history — because there hasn't been any.” 

After combing through every copy of the school’s 100 yearbooks, archived versions of a student newspaper, local news records, annual city and school board reports and the memories of longtime staff members, among other sources, Lescarbeau has created a detailed list of the superintendents, principals, assistant principals and assistant superintendents, school population, major events, building renovations, and notable clubs, teams and traditions for each of the last 100 years.

Collating that information into a timeline went beyond just names and dates: it provided Lescarbeau windows into the lives of Sachems who came before. In each evolving era of the school, Lescarbeau found figures and events that jumped out at her.

There was the decade or so where the school mascot was a magician — replaced by the Sachem in 1946 because it was seen as “inappropriate.” There was the longstanding reign of the “traffic squad,” charged with ensuring orderly passage between classes, and the multi-decade championship dominance of the school’s math team in the ’80s and ’90s. There was a stretch in the mid-1970s — which students at the time loathed, Lescarbeau said — when, with the high school undergoing major renovations and the addition of the Huot Career and Technical Center, grades seven through 12 attended double sessions at Memorial Middle School.

Seeing how student culture evolved over time also gave Lescarbeau a new perspective on how student life is now. It revealed just how many student clubs and traditions had been lost to the pandemic, for example. It also underlined the importance of a thorough student newspaper and yearbook committee in documenting everything — and made her wonder about how the history of today’s Sachems will be preserved.

The students creating those records didn’t see themselves as making primary sources for future historians, Lescarbeau said. “They were just living in the moment. They didn't really know that, in 100 years, this would be going on.” 

So much of the color and culture of each era — and how well its history was preserved — Lescarbeau said, was shaped by the school principal.

For current LHS principal Lisa Hinds — who Lescarbeau’s research confirmed is the first woman ever to hold that position — the project is a humbling reminder of how strongly her leadership and that of the current faculty can shape the school and its community.

“It can be very daunting,” said Hinds, who was appointed to the role in the spring of last school year. “It does make you stop and pause and say, ‘I will, at some point, be part of that ... what I do so deeply matters.’”

Local historian Warren Huse, who has given Lescarbeau advice on this project, emphasized that keeping and creating this history also has curricular value. 

History teachers are so limited in what they can fit into a school year, Huse said. And the New Hampshire history that is often included rarely focuses intently on the Lakes Region, let alone Laconia. Local history, he said, has as many lessons to teach about the present and future as any other genre in the field.

Lescarbeau presented her work so far to the Laconia School Board in November.

At the meeting, Superintendent Steve Tucker, a past history teacher, praised Lescarbeau in not only how she collected and verified large amounts of information but also “engaged the community” and “brought to life people that made a difference in the building.”

Lescarbeau has not yet decided how to present the totality of her work ahead of her graduation. Some of it will be displayed at the Laconia Public Library in the spring, and Hinds told the school board that LHS aims to create its own display as well. 

Her goal going into the project was not only to create a buildable historical record, but to make the history of the school interesting to her peers. She hopes that future students, whether through Diploma of Distinction or other routes, will take up the mantle of her research, broadening and deepening its scope in addition to updating it. 

“I would love for my project to be built on over time,” she said. “I hope that kids will continue working on it in the future.”