EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest in a series called “Laker Lore,” exploring the lore and legends of Spring Lake’s past.
If you look at the cover of any Spring Lake High School yearbook, you may notice one specific word shown on the book. Maybe you have no idea what this word means, or why it is there. Surprisingly, neither did the current yearbook team.
“Avanti,” the word that appears on the book spine, is an Italian word which by definition means forward, ahead, or on. When we first found the definition we had no idea why this was so important that it had become a tradition to include in every book, but we knew there must’ve been more to the story that we wanted to learn. This question is what sparked this entire “Laker Lore” series, because we realized there was so much more school history that we don’t know the full origins of.
The answer lies within the cover of the very first high school yearbook from 1965. Firstly, “Avanti” was the name of the student-run publication, like how our current name is the Laker Anchor. A further description of the slogan is written inside the book:
“Everything must have a beginning. For Spring Lake Senior High School the beginning was four years ago when the voters of this community decided to have a full high school program. Everyone knew that this would be a difficult task, but students, faculty, and administration were willing to do their part. The key word for these four years has been AVANTI, to advance.”
The word was written as motivation and hope that the fledgling Spring Lake school district would continue to succeed. Along with the hope to continue, they wanted to continue advancing and being the best they could for their community. They had to fight, petition, vote for, and fund the creation of this high school and obviously had high hopes that it would not fail in some way.
Now, 60 years later, you will continue to see this word on our published yearbooks, for the same reason, in hopes of our schools success and survival as we move forward. Make sure to attend Smart Start in August to pick up your copy of the 2025 edition.
