Every school year students come and go through Greeley West. No one would know that better than the teachers who have lasted here longer than anyone else.
Social studies teacher Mr. Don Wagner has been at Greeley West for nearly 30 years. Many students and even current teachers at West have been taught by him. Wagner has taught at West for 28 years and has been a psychology teacher through and through. “There has been a fantastic difference from when I started here. The school has gotten so much bigger,” Wagner said.
Through the years, each class has gotten bigger and bigger and the proof is the huge new school. He’s been here to see teachers come and go. “There are a lot more ‘teacher turn over,’ and not even from last year but from the last five through ten years. I don’t know if it’s for the better or worse, but it’s just different,” Wagner said.
English teacher Ms. Amy Tuttle has also had a long ride involving the school. She started here in ‘98 but through the years she’s gone to Northridge and even worked for the district. “Something that has changed is how diverse our school has become since I started teaching in the ‘90s until now,” Tuttle said.
English teacher Ms. Elizabeth Dent has taught at West for 28 years. She has been one of the longest continuous AVID teachers at the school. “We have students from all over the globe and so we get to see global culture through food, clothes, and language. We all get exposed to a far richer experience because of that,” Dent said.
Mr. Jeff Cranson is the principal and has been at West for 20 years. When he became principal, Greeley West had been going through a rough patch. Cranson has climbed his way to the top from just starting off as a business teacher. He was the first AVID teacher and AVID coordinator in the District. In a time of need for the school, he then climbed again to become an athletic director. “In the middle of the summer time the athletic director left and so they asked me to apply for it. At that time I wasn’t ready to give up my AVID class or my softball team because I was coaching at that time but it was a great opportunity. If I didn’t jump on that then I didn’t know when the opportunity would come again,” Cranson said.
After that another opportunity came his way of becoming principal just overnight and people know the story from there. He agreed that Greeley West is different than when he started. He thinks the biggest change has been involvement. “One of the biggest changes has been the staff and students and them not being a part of the school community as in chaperoning dances or going to the Friday night football games,” Cranson said.
