Tucked away in the corner of the lobby is an area featuring picnic tables, flowers, and ample amounts of sunlight. A place that offers relaxation for those who come to study. This area has been dedicated to Walter A. Sidney, one of the first teachers at LHS who passed away suddenly in 1996.

Sidney was an original staff member when the building opened up in the late 70’s. He taught US History, and had a genuine passion for working with his students. 

Humanities teacher Peter Willis was among the many people he left a mark on. 

“His greatest gift as a teacher was he found ways for kids to succeed who might not succeed anywhere else,” Willis said.

Another teacher who knew Sidney is John Vaughn, a retired social studies teacher who is currently subbing for English teacher Emily Standbridge.

“If you got Walter to grin or laugh, you’ve done something,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn and Willis both enjoyed Sidney’s deadpan humor. Willis remembered one funny story during election season in 1988 where he, Vaughn, and a few other staff members decided to prank Sidney by putting presidential campaign posters around the school with the slogan “Sidney 88” on them. But this wasn’t the whole gag. What do presidential candidates need? Secret service protection, of course.

“Mr. Sidney had duty in the foyer where the kids got off the bus first thing in the morning,” Willis said. “That morning, myself, Vaughn, and other staff members dressed in three-piece suits, and had earpieces and glasses. We were going to be his secret service protection program. He didn’t know about this.”

How did Sidney react? In his typical deadpan way.

“He took it as a matter of course,” Willis said. “He just played along with it, which made it that much funnier. He took it as ‘of course, he needed protection.’”

Willis said Sidney would “roll with everything.”

“He was one of a kind, and that’s the approach he took with his students,” Willis said. “He really connected with his students.”

Sidney was also very passionate about baseball. He loved the Boston Red Sox and coached the middle school girls basketball team. 

Always a fan of the outdoors, he worked in state parks in the summertime when he wasn’t teaching. He found that to be a good hobby. In the Rose Garden, there are rocks from his favorite hiking places. 

“He loved the outdoors,” Willis said, “so the garden was a logical way to honor his memory.”

Christopher Pantazis is another person who Sidney left an impact on. Pantazis was one of his students when he went to LHS.

Sidney became more important to Pantazis’ experience at LHS, because when he graduated in the spring of 1983, he moved on to New England College in Henniker, the town Sidney resided in.

“I’d see Walt at Pop Schultz’s Market or the Henniker Pharmacy in the center of town from time to time as I anxiously and somewhat tentatively tried to get my college career under way in a positive manner,” Pantazis said, “And having a little taste of LHS again – in the form of Walt’s gentle manner and kind ways – helped ease me into what became a very positive college experience.”

Pantazis returned to LHS many years later to work in the special education department. 

He expresses how Sidney was truly one of a kind. He was quietly encouraging and dedicated to his work and his students. 

“Seeing the rose garden dedicated to this wonderful, quiet, talented man elicited a knowing smile from me,” Pantazis said. “I get that same grin every time I pass the sign for the garden.”