With the freshman joining the high school, Woodhaven High School’s administration established rules that made the hallways more strict. As a leadership team, they have meetings where each safety monitor and teaching staff touch base on how things are going. Tardies have become more of an issue, and kids are often out of class. As they talked through those things they saw there were too many people at the KOS, vending machines, and many kids without passes while they were out of class. The principal, Mr. Vesperman, says, “They’re enforcing rules that they didn’t enforce at the beginning of the year, making sure all students have hall passes in the hallway. When you look at the kids’ GPA and their being out in the halls all of the time, those are the students that need to be in their classes more. As you get older, you need to be able to make good choices on your own.”
There isn’t anything they’re doing differently, but they’re trying to stay on top of small issues before they become bigger. They are taking opportunities to listen to other adults in the building about problems going on. The decision of ninth graders to come to the high school was made because of space and buildings. Elementary was getting full, and the ninth graders are a part of high school, so having them in the same building would make more sense rather than being separated in the middle school. Mrs. Izzy says, “I think the school is set up like a college campus that has more freedom of movement than a typical high school. However, some too many students are making poor consequences for their behaviors, detentions, poor grades, or just being in other businesses.” She feels that students have more freedom at the high school, although some students take advantage of the freedom and abuse it. The better you do in high school, the more opportunities you have outside of school; the more you have, the better life you can build. Mrs. Izzy advises students that good habits begin now, the more time you spend making the right choice, taking care of yourself, and making good choices, the better off you will be. High school is just a practice run for the next phase of your adult life. This is not to say that making bad choices in high school will make you successful, but the earlier you start, the earlier it will be on you.
Have you ever wondered what is the hardest part of being an assistant principal? Quotes from Mrs. Izzy, “I give so much of myself, from students to staff to parents, that I often don’t have a lot of steam left for my own home. It’s hard to balance the needs of her job and the needs of her family.”
At the end of the day, it isn’t just the students’ perspective that should be considered but also the people who wake up every morning to help make our education better at Woodhaven High School.
