Skyline High School is the newest high school in Ann Arbor Public Schools, having opened in 2008. Luckily for us, a group of the first 400 freshmen was in charge of giving the school its identity.
“If I remember correctly, it was a committee of the incoming freshmen…that picked the name of the school,” said former Instructional Technology Lead Teacher Peter Pasque. “It was during one of the early tours before all the window panes were put in. And when they went up to the 4th floor and looked out. They were enamored with the skyline. So that’s how the name of the school came about.”
The Skyline colors were picked by the same committee of freshmen that picked the name. The main color of the school is Columbian Blue – a somewhat rare color. “It’s always special order,” said former DTEP Magnet Lead Tom Pachera, “and it [sometimes comes in the wrong shade]. So as coaches, it was really like ‘we could’ve just picked dark blue.’”
Skyline’s eagle mascot wasn’t always the clear choice. There was a lot of talk that it was going to be a salamander at first due to the school having to move the salamander pond into the woods. That particular type of salamander was considered quite rare at the time. “There was a lot of speculation [for Skyline’s mascot to be the] salamanders,” said Math Lead Jeff Oleksinski. “I don’t think there was any official talk…they had a contest for a drawing of the mascot…but that was once they already knew as Eagle.”
The early years of Skyline were a lot different from the school we see now, with fewer students and contractors (producers) still on the 4th floor.“It was very different, unique, fun, [and] exciting because each year we added a whole another group of kids,” said Anne Bezeau, lead health and PE teacher at Skyline. The building was not full for many years. “[It] took a lot of training, especially for the adults in the staff and bringing in new people…. Also, there was a lack of shared space,” one more way Skyline is different from more traditional schools.
Skyline’s smallness helped people get to know their teachers well. “Originally, the students didn’t leave their [SLC] hallway much except for electives and magnets [so they developed even closer bonds to the teachers in their hallway],” said Pachera. “So if your Skytime teachers are standing out in the hallway before first hour, and you don’t show up, they know you didn’t show up because they recognize you. You [also] recognize them and they can check in with you.”
Chad, Skyline’s live beloved eagle mascot, had no comment on Skyline-related questions. He flew away when he was asked and was unreachable afterward.
