AUGUST 13, 2009 ISSUE
Last First Day at the Old Watauga High School
New High School Taking Shape
WHS Principal Michael Wyant welcomes students back on Wednesday, August 12, for the final first day at the current facility. Photo by Ken Ketchie
Wednesday, August 12, marked the last first day of school for Watauga High School (WHS) students in the current location. The new high school, which is located at Daniel Boone Drive Extension in Boone, is slated to open in time for the first day of school next year.
“Almost every child I’ve talked to that is a current student is looking forward to going to the new school,” said Watauga County Board of Education Chair Lowell Younce. “Some that have been attending here will be sad because of the memories [they’ve made here], but overall, it will be a glad day because the new building is going to be state-of-the-art and have new technology,” he added.
Ben Beason, a WHS junior, looks forward to being in the first senior class to graduate from the new high school next year.
“It’s going to be cool being the first graduating class,” Beason said. “It’s something we’ll always have in our memories. They say it’ll be done in time for us, and I hope it will be. It will be neat to go there for a year.”
“It’s just as cool to be the last graduating class,” said Beckett Bathanti, a WHS senior. “The new high school will be new for everyone; no one will know their way around. I would have felt like a freshman.”
Bathanti and Emma Seagle, also a WHS senior, both agreed that their time at the high school went by really fast.
“It’s kind of sad; we’ve gone K through 12 together, and this is the last first day,” Seagle said.
She feels the education received at the new school will be of the same quality, but in a different location. “I think there will be more classrooms [but] the teachers will be the same,” she said. “There will be more advanced technology on the computers.”
WHS currently has five modular (mod) classes, held in modular classrooms outside the main school building, which won’t be necessary at the new school.
The high school “has served Watauga County well since 1965 but has about reached its limit,” said WHS Principal Michael Wyant.
“The layout of the building is not ideal for the number of students we have,” Wyant said, adding that slightly more than 1,450 students currently attend WHS.
The structure itself is still sound, but the building’s infrastructure—the bells, plumbing, electricity and fire alarm system—have had problems due to their age, he said.
“We had to cancel freshman orientation last year because the fire alarm system went out and we couldn’t have students in the building without it,” Wyant said.
The new high school, which is located at Daniel Boone Drive Extension in Boone, is slated to open in time for the first day of school next year.
“The overall layout of the [new] building will be much nicer for students and staff,” he said. A huge lobby area stretches the length of the building, and will serve as cafeteria seating, he said. This will allow plenty of room for students to spread out and not be so cramped, and will also serve as a lobby for athletic and other events, he added.
The building “looks much bigger than this one,” Beason said. “It will be nice. The hallways are bigger…it will be more convenient…it feels like it takes 10 minutes to get to classes [now].”
“I’ve been in the new building, and it’s going to be something Watauga County can be proud of,” Wyant continued. “The technology and green aspects of the new school are going to be amazing. [There will be] wireless throughout, possibly even into athletic fields and parking lots.”
WHS has spotty wireless internet now, mostly found in the media center area, he added.
The new school is also trying to get LEED certification—an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Another significant improvement will be air conditioning throughout the entire school.
The current building only has air conditioning in places, including the media center and computer rooms.
“We’ll have complete climate control,” Wyant said. “[There will be] no early dismissals for heat. We haven’t had any since I’ve been here, but the year before, they had several.”
Wyant initially was the principal at Bandys High School in Catawba County, then worked a central office position for a couple years before coming to be WHS principal last year.
“I love Boone. I’m lucky to be here. I remember coming up here for undergrad at App. When they were doing these additions, I used to ride down and watch the additions being built, not knowing one day I’d be principal,” Wyant said.
Five WHS students stand in the hallway on the last first day of school in the current building. Pictured from left to right are senior Emma Willard, junior Ben Beason and seniors Beckett Bathanti, Emma Seagle and Emily Bushman. Photo by Ken Ketchie
As an undergraduate student at ASU, Wyant worked at McDonald’s along with some WHS students and remembered hearing them talk about the high school.
“I just love seeing high schools and trying to get ideas,” Wyant said. “I did my student teaching at Beaver Creek High School in Ashe County. They tore it down…and it will be sad whenever that happens to this place. We’re going to be sad to leave this building, but excited to get to the new facility.”
Watauga County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mary Hemric agreed. The high school he attended as a student was torn down and replaced. “It was tough because they tore it down,” he said, but added he recognized the obligation to present and future students of having a modern facility.
The custodial staff has stayed committed to keeping the current facility up, Hemric said, citing that they painted the front this summer. “We have pride in this facility until we’re finished with it. We will finish strong,” he said. “Our seniors that will not be going with us to [the new building next year] deserve that…all the students deserve that.”
When the new school was approved, school board member Dr. Lee Warren kept saying it’s important to keep maintaining our school and not just focusing on the new school, Younce said. “I think the maintenance people maintaining this building are looking forward [to the new facility]. It will be a glad day,” he added.
“I do think it’s good we take time and reflect. [WHS] is more than just a building,” Hemric said. “The successes of those who have graduated from this building are many; what they’ve gone out and done [and] the family-like bonds…students and faculty have had, that’s where the sentimental value comes from. We need to take time and reflect on that, celebrate that.”
The customs and traditions of WHS will continue at the new high school, Hemric said. What coaches and teachers accomplished on the fields and in the classrooms over the years have made WHS a special place, and “we look forward to that happening at a new place,” Hemric said. “We’re going to take so many artifacts from this building to the new building to remind us of who we are and where we’ve been.”
Younce, who entered WHS in 1965 when the five high schools at the time were consolidated, graduated from WHS in 1967.
“We’re not leaving WHS, we’re just entering into a new site,” he said. “All the colors, and the mascot will be the same at the new school.”
Former graduating classes will contribute memorabilia to the new high school, he added.
“It will be a fun, celebratory year of reflection as we conclude,” Hemric said.
Wyant sees endless possibilities for making the new school more of a community center.
“Long-term, Parks and [Recreation] plans to build a swimming pool [nearby]; that will open up possibilities for [physical education] classes,” he said.
The high school swim team now practices at the pool off State Farm Road, but that pool is too far away to use for physical education classes. Wyant hopes that in the future, a nearby pool could help ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn how to swim.
He hopes that community members could come to the school one night a week to improve computer skills and learn how to use the internet from school staff members.
“I think the opportunities are unlimited,” Wyant said. “We will have to think creatively about all the possibilities for a community center. After all, the community is footing the bill.”
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