As Wheeler’s 60th anniversary is approaching, we should question ourselves how Wheeler made it this far compared to other schools in the county. Since 1965, Wheeler has been a symbol of many generations in the students’, teachers’, and staff’s lives. What makes Wheeler High School a symbol? What makes Wheeler special in everyone’s heart? What makes Wheeler, Wheeler?
FACTS ABOUT WHEELER:
Wheeler High School was built in the late ’60s; as many as 40 Notable people attended the school. Wheeler ranks 64 out of all high schools across the country having its best STEM education, Wheeler is also well known for its sports program, and famous Athletes that were at the program during their High School times. With Arts and clubs, Wheeler has them all.
Leighanne Kuhn (Audio, and Film teacher) started working at Wheeler in 1997 and describes to The Catalyst how Wheeler changed over the years, and still for 26 years of her working at Wheeler, it’s still changing. “The biggest change I saw that happened at Wheeler was when Wheeler started magnet, magnet started in the 2000s and it brought in a lot of different kinds of students from all over the county, we had a better music program, and I like the energy magnet students bring.”
She also discussed how she loves seeing different people from different countries, she stated “The Culture and diversity of the students’ backgrounds, I like how we have so many different cultures, so many countries representing our school is my favorite part.”
“I always have enjoyed homecoming, pep rallies where all the students get together at the same place in the arena, celebrate and be loud and I think those are the best moments, and releasing WildcatTV.” she also talked about her good and bad times during Wheeler “ I will never forget about 9/11, the day when we are all here and it was an attack, we were in lockdown and it was really scary, we never seen that happened in our life and that day particular stands out to me as significant because it’s moments like that where you realize how important your community is and the other significant event was the pandemic.”
Rosalia Leyva (Special Education IEP teacher) agreed to be interviewed. Ms. Leyva describes her years at Wheeler and talks about how sad it is to see good people leave. She also discusses why Wheeler is special to her: “It has been sad to see the wonderful people who have left Wheeler. However, we’ve had amazing staff members join our team. Everyone at Wheeler is like family. We enjoy working with each other and the students.”
“Getting to work with wonderful people and students every day at my job has been impactful, helping to make my days unforgettable.” She was honored to be the Staff member of the month. Ms. Leyva started working for the Wildcats in 2010, and ever since, she’s still going strong.
Tara Thompson (Am Lit, H World Lit, H Am Lit, and AP certified) has been a Wildcat since 1998. “As I’ve observed the building changes over the years, it’s been nice to see the improvements and the more modern look. Wish the improvements included more windows, though. Natural light from windows is super helpful for a learning environment.”.
Ms. Thompson talks about her special thing about Wheeler and what makes Wheeler, Wheeler. She stated, “The diversity and family atmosphere helps to make Wheeler super special.” One of her favorite moments during Wheeler was her receiving the MLK humanitarian award She describes how Wheeler Peaceful Place organization started “One of the most memorable and favorite moments: When I received the MLK Humanitarian Award; I created the Wheeler Peaceful Place organization, and students helped to create a space at Wheeler in the courtyard…my new classroom is now located right in that area”
“One of the most impactful moments: When I received the MLK Humanitarian Award. I was a yearbook adviser for many years, and I have many fond memories of the strong relationships we built over the years; Loved Senior Project.” She also talks about her big accomplishments during Wheeler which includes: Receiving MLK Humanitarian, Created Wheeler Peaceful Place, Becoming a Yearbook Adviser for many years, was voted for the nicest teacher by colleagues a couple of years ago. The only change she wants to see for Wheeler is Wheeler adding more windows
Mars Berwanger (Engineer teacher) another Wildcat teacher that worked at Wheeler since 2017 agreed to be interviewed, he describes the changes at wheeler stating “I’ve only seen a relatively short amount of time but even still it’s fun to see the students going through and how they change and grow from Freshman to Senior year (and sometimes coming back too).” Mr. Berwanger talks about the reasons why he wants to continue teaching Wheeler “What makes Wheeler special in my neck of the woods is how many unique elective classes we have in my own Engineering. It enriches the education environment for teachers just as it does students.”
He describes his favorite moments at Wheeler “Oh too many… Lots and lots of projects stick out the most. Some of which, two memorable couch-based ones are a double decker couch and motorizing a couch. Lots of moments in clubs and extracurriculars stick out too with robotics, basketball, and SWE. And of course, the semi-annual student vs teacher basketball game is always a favorite.”
He also talks about a significant event that happened to every teacher, or really the country, Covid “The shutdowns from Covid and then virtual and then hybrid classes is certainly what has impacted my teaching time at Wheeler the most. I had 2 years before to get some basis of “normal” (as much as anything can be normal starting as a teacher) before then adjusting to new teaching styles in a virtual environment, a hybrid environment, and then an all in person environment with students who had been away from each other for 2 years.”
“My biggest official accomplishment would of course be being selected the Teacher of the Year for Wheeler in the first fully in person school year back from Covid (maybe 2022? No one knows). I put my heart and soul into my classroom and all the extracurricular things I’m a part of, so being recognized for this is something I’ll always cherish. The accomplishment I carry with me most is seeing students I taught graduate and then coming back to say hi or staying in touch. As I’ve had more and more graduated from my classes going out into the world, it’s been so much fun to see them grow and meaningful to play my small part in it.”
Berwanger stated he wants to see some improvements for the school and the Wheeler community as he stated “Oh, I don’t know… There are always things to grow and improve on, so I’d love to see Wheeler continue to find ways to keep changing to meet the needs of whatever best serves each new group of students. If not that, then I’d settle for the lower level water fountain working again!”
“Congrats! 5 more years until Wheeler is Medicare eligible!” from Mars Berwanger
