Every other Monday, the Town of Exeter Select Board meets in the Town Offices on Front Street, across the intersection from the gazebo, and discusses matters important to the local community.

A teenager’s first job is monumental. It’s a milestone into adulthood, a signal that they’re entering “the real world.” Parents marvel, “They grow up so fast!” Kids, decked out in colorful uniforms, clutch their first paychecks with a grin. Of course, being able to make some extra money means having a little more on their plate: everyday after classes, they find themselves under the fluorescents of a Walmart or the loud, aromatic atmosphere of a local diner, all while schoolwork, a social life, and sleep battle for their attention. For teens who choose to work a job, such is the epitome of the American high school experience. But for students at the Academy, it’s an entirely different ballgame.

In basketball, explosiveness is the name of the game. For four twelve-minute quarters, the nonstop ebb and flow from offense to defense, punctuated by the swish of the ball in the net every now and again, enthralls all who bear witness. Nowhere is the aggressive athleticism of basketball more visible than on the sport’s biggest stage.

As students hurry across campus to catch the bell for their next class, a fine dust settles over the Mayer Art Building’s ceramics studio during a rare free block. In the spacious and still room, partially finished clay pinch pots line the walls, waiting to be fired.