Barbara Young, Math Intervention teacher, Denise Johnson Reading Intervention teacher, and Cynthia Sallee, Dyslexia Therapist, explained that they have all taught at Westwind since it opened.

Young explained that she moved to Westwind when it opened from North Ridge where she was a third grade teacher.

“I came over to Westwind right when it opened and a few years later, I became the Math Intervention Teacher,” Young said. “This is where I’ve been since then!”

Sallee said she started at Westwind and taught in third grade with Young.

“I taught for fifteen years in third grade, and then was lucky enough to get trained in dyslexia therapy,” Sallee said.

Johnson said she remembers coming to Westwind as a first grade teacher. She explained that she also moved over with Young and Sallee from North Ridge.

“The building was supposed to be completed in August, but wasn’t actually completed until December, which is why we came over so late in the school year,” Johnson said.

The teachers reminisced about the last 25 years by speaking about different memories they have about Westwind.

“I remember when they brought fifth grade over and made it part of the elementary,” Young said. “Before they rerouted Milwaukee, I remember the train would come right by the school. The kids would love it when it would blow its horn at them during recess.”

“We also had no trees and no fence,” Sallee said. “The large pine trees out by the building were just starting to grow. We would get onto the kids at recess because they all wanted to jump over them! We were afraid they wouldn’t grow, but now they are fully grown trees!”

Sallee said she can remember those students playing out by the trees that are now grown and have children that play by the trees now.

“There have been children of children we have taught, and even grandchildren of children that we have taught,” Sallee said.

Johnson said that there are even two Westwind teachers that she taught when they were elementary students.

“Haley Kirk and Ashley Garza were students of ours and they are now teachers here,” Johnson said.

Young spoke about how technology has changed over the last 25 years.

“We had to keep grades in a handwritten grades in a gradebook,” Young said. “We actually had to manually add them, divide them and get the average, and physically write the report card. I don’t even really remember having computers in the room, it was just something that we knew how to live without!”

Johnson remembered when she was the first person in the district to get a touch board for her classroom.

“When I was teaching first grade, I wrote a grant through Microsoft,” Johnson said. “A lot of people came over from around the District to see it.”

Sallee recalled the difference in the way technology was used during class.

“At first when computers and technology came into the classroom it was a whole separate thing,” Sallee said. “We had ‘computer time’ and ‘teaching time’ and technology wasn’t integrated into our classroom. I don’t think that we could even teach like we used to without the computers and technology we have today.”

The teachers discussed the many reasons technology is so helpful today.

“Now we know specifically what reading level a child is on, what math level a child is on, what interventions they have received, and we can make really good decisions about what programs they need to be in, how to teach the kids, and technology has really helped the instantaneous education of a child,” Sallee said.

“Education is more prescriptive now for children,” Johnson said. “We can look at the data, and really help meet the kids needs even more than we could 25 years ago.”

The teachers explained that even though the District has rapidly grown, Frenship still feels close knit like a family.

“All of our kids started in Kindergarten and have gone through Frenship together,” Sallee said. “We have gone through the same teachers with our children, and all had similar experiences, which is why I think this District feels so close.”

“Frenship started small,” Johnson said. “It was a small District at one point, and even as it grows I think what has stayed the same throughout is the passion to do what is best for kids. I don’t think that even though we have so many schools and are a 6A District, Frenship has never lost that passion to do what is best for students.”