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We asked three teachers for their thoughts
Editors Note: This is the first of a series of articles concerning the Webster City High School project; considering what is needed and how the building has functioned for the students, teachers and staff.
Part One - LuAnn Garvey, classroom teacher
By Robert E. Oliver
A lot of good people are working on ideas for improving Webster City High School if voters agree in a referendum scheduled for September 8. An advisory committee of educators, school district and city board and staff members, parents and citizens held its fourth planning meeting recently. We wanted to make sure some of the people who would be most affected by any change in the building had their say - the teachers. For this article, we turned to three teachers with years of experience in Webster City schools. They had plenty to say. The first of these stories is below.
LuAnn Garvey, English and History classroom teacher
Garvey, widely and affectionately known as "Mrs. G.," taught full-time for 26 years at Northeast Hamilton, Webster City Middle School and Webster City High School. From 2001-2019 she could be found in her classroom on the main floor of the original WCHS classroom wing. In retirement, she still substitutes one or two days a week, often at WCHS.
"The high school classrooms have always been stuffy," she recalled. "We usually need air-conditioning the first month of school in fall and the last two weeks in spring."
Instead, most classrooms are not air conditioned, Garvey's included, and they made do with small, oscillating fans. "The heat affects your ability to teach and kid's ability to learn," she concluded.
On especially warm days, classroom windows were raised and doors propped open. Large fans placed near doors were brought in to bring fresh air inside.
"It was distracting to have the windows open; you could see attention spans and learning drop," she said.
The classrooms for her classes were usually very full.
"Every year I had at least 25 students, but usually 28-30. Those classrooms are on the small side when you've got 30 kids," Garvey said. "And, kids are bigger today than they were 50 years ago."
"There were only two electrical outlets in each room. That was fine before every student had their own computer, but not today," she explained. " I repeatedly had to ask kids to bring their devices already charged-up, but we were always short of outlets."
Garvey strongly believes being in a play, or defending an idea in speech class, is essential learning for every student.
"During speech and play season, I lived in that building. I always felt the stage and seating in the auditorium were wonderful, but there's no storage, no dressing rooms, and no room backstage. The sound system has been updated, and there's a technician who manages the equipment, but I always had student volunteers for that," she remembers.
Commenting on the library she said, "we had a good selection of books. I never saw that facility as lacking."
Similarly, Garvey found the original WCHS cafeteria and kitchen, which are adjacent to the library, "adequate." She has a special place in her heart for school cooks, a job her grandmother held at Stratford School for many years. "I didn't like it when other students complained about the food at school. I wanted to say, 'hey, my grandmother made that food!'"
Her opinion of the central courtyard at WCHS, which was enclosed on the north and west sides when additions to the original building were added, was very clear.
"It was a waste of space and never really utilized," she said.
Throughout her career as a teacher Garvey said she never gave a thought to her personal safety or the safety of students when she came to work each day.
"But hearing Jason Wedgbury (high school principal) talk about the need for greater security at the high school recently, I know we must address that," she concluded.
Summarizing her thoughts, Garvey said, "Our world has changed in so many ways, and our high school hasn't kept pace with the times. This is our future; we need to put our dollars here."