NHS Renovation Needs Your Support Too

Walking out to the parking lot following last night's steering committee meeting for a proposed renovation of Norwell High School, I noticed someone had carefully distributed flyers on the windshield of every vehicle in sight. Including mine.
The flyers were all in support of Norwell Principal Greg Mohler.
(The flyer will be inserted into copies of the News-Banner distributed in the Norwell school district today and Ossian Journal, as a paid advertisement.)

I am all about community involvement. I think it's great the Norwell students are so actively involved in what's going on with their principal. I can hardly find fault with so much concern for a man who clearly has had a tremendous impact on the lives of so many students.

But really, has anyone even been listening to him?

While someone was running around the parking lot last night putting flyers on cars trying to force Northern Wells Community School Board members to violate the law by breaking confidentiality agreements, Mohler was inside trying to get the high school repaired.

When it rains outside, the roof leaks so bad at NHS they need buckets everywhere. When teachers try to plug in what few computers they have they risk blowing breakers across the building.
Classroom size averages about 800 square feet, when the current standard is more than 900 square feet; there are no fire suppression sprinklers; And the kitchen, full of antiquated equipment, needs to double in size just to serve the current number of students.
Steering committee members meeting in the library last night had to shout to each other until the HVAC shut off--it's that loud. (I don't know how teachers could possibly teach over that racket!)
There are numerous ADA violations (though the school is technically grandfathered in) like round door knobs and narrow aisles and the lack of storage space for their award-winning band to keep its equipment and generally run-down condition of the entire place create a definite feeling of disrepair for the folks who learn, work and volunteer their time there.

Ask Mohler what he's concerned with and he'll tell you: Fix the high school.
I know because I asked him.

The same goes for the other 30 people sitting in that room last night, including Superintendent Dr. Scott Mills, assistant principal Brent Leyman, concerned tax payers, parents and teachers who have met for hours in near endless discussion trying to find a way to meet the needs of the students without pushing fellow citizens to the breaking point.

Some suggest what they had as students 20 years ago was good enough for them, so it should be good enough for today's kids.
Ed Daizovi, parent of Northern Wells students and steering committee member, said that argument is without merit.
"The pioneer's children studied in a one-room schoolhouse by oil lamp," he said. "Does that mean we should use that as the standard for today? I don't think so."

Some have suggested that re-designing classrooms around the students is also the wrong way--teachers and students should just make the best of what they have.

Bob Dahl, a long-time Wells County teacher, said that kind of thinking was also backwards.
"Things have definitely changed in education and whether that's better or worse we can't say," he said. "But we have to address the needs of all of our students, not just the ones who nicely fit into our system."
Teachers, he said, may not have all the answers, "but we have a good idea what we need in our classrooms."

So, yes, do your best to support Principal Mohler, if you like. But you should also do your best to support the things he supports.

And in case you hadn't noticed, repairing the high school, some how, some way, has been high on his agenda lately.