WOODLAND HIGH SCHOOL students arrive for the first day of classes at the newly constructed campus.
NEWLY ARRIVED STUDENTS milled about and chatted as kids organized lockers and attempted to locate classrooms Wednesday morning before classes began.
WOODLAND – Before students poured through the front doors of the new Woodland High School for the first time Wednesday, they gathered in a wide arc between the school and the parking lot and stared up at a man in a bucket.
“We did that last spring, too, on the last day with the seniors at the old high school,” Principal John Shoup said Wednesday afternoon. “We have a picture … of the last senior class and all the staff, and so we wanted to have one on the first day here with all the students and staff.”
After the photographer snapped a few pictures of the assembled students, they filed through the doors to enter the school for the first time as students instead of spectators.
The updated campus will be like a second home to the hundreds of students who will attend classes there over the next 10 or so months – and they are largely thrilled about it.
“It was by far the best opening day as far as just the feel and excitement and the joy of returning from summer,” Principal Shoup said. “It was fabulous. There's no other way to describe it.”
Haylee Michaud is a senior at Woodland High School who plays both volleyball and softball. As a Running Start student, she spends less time on the campus than most kids, but it was impossible to miss her enthusiasm for the new campus Wednesday morning.
“It is so much better,” she gushed. “Everything's better.”
Across the campus, students were busy discovering everything they could about the new school. Each room is equipped with projectors, whiteboards, and light bars which sense the brightness in the room and automatically adjust themselves to be dimmer in some spots to provide even light and save energy in sunlit classes.
There's a new workout room, new science labs, a specially engineered and equipped band rehearsal hall, a floriculture classroom and greenhouse and a brand new athletics stadium complete with artificial turf and smart lighting.
“It almost doesn't compare,” said Grace Adams, another Woodland High School senior. “It's much bigger and much more spacious. I mean, it's gorgeous … It almost feels like it's off of a movie.
Students were understandably disoriented Wednesday morning. Some stood around in knots trying to coordinate their new schedules as a line of students waited for help with finding classrooms in the office.
“I think that people will be happier now that they don't have to be so close to everybody and I feel like it will be a better atmosphere for everybody,” Michaud said.
In a separate interview, Adams echoed her sentiment, adding students' attitudes were more positive than she had expected.
“It seems like a clean slate,” she said. “It's a whole new year and a whole new school. It's like you're not bringing anything from the previous year except what you've worked for.”
Both girls expressed gratitude that voters approved the measure to fund the new school. Michaud believes the improvements opened a new chapter for Woodland High School's current and future students.
“Your environment really affects you and so when you're in this brand new facility and everyone's super excited … I think it's 110 percent worth it. I really appreciate all the votes that came in and I'm sure all of the other students would say the same.”
