CENTERTON — Principal Jonathon Guthrie stressed two words during his first address to the students of Bentonville West High School: involvement and engagement.
Monday marked the first day of school for most students in Northwest Arkansas. It also marked the first day ever at West High School, a little less than three years after Bentonville voters agreed to pay for a second high school for the district with an enrollment of almost 17,000.
Guthrie welcomed the school’s more than 1,200 students during an assembly in the main gymnasium.
“You guys from now on will always be able to say, ‘I was there at the first day at BWHS,’” Guthrie told students. He asked them to consider what legacy they would leave.
Guthrie urged students to get involved in an extracurricular activity. Students who are involved at school generally have better attendance rates and are more likely to succeed, he told them.
“Join a club. Better yet, be president of a club,” he said. “Start a club if you want to.”
Guthrie also asked students to take care of the new school — an $80 million investment, including construction and furnishings, he said — and to behave themselves.
“If you see one of your classmates about to do something stupid, speak up,” he said. “Say, ‘Don’t be stupid.’”
Students were set loose on a scavenger hunt to find where their classes meet and certain other key parts of the 430,000-square-foot building, including the media and the performing arts centers.
Randy Richardson, a geometry teacher and head girls basketball coach, stood in the hall greeting students and signing their scavenger hunt papers as they came looking for him and his classroom. Other students stopped to ask him for directions.
Richardson, now in his 30th year of teaching, said it was the first time he’s ever been part of opening a new building.
“So it’s pretty exciting for an old guy,” he said.
Richardson said he likes the layout of the building, especially the areas designated as collaborative learning zones to encourage students and teachers to work together in large or small groups.
“I think it’s really student-friendly,” he said.
Payton Rea, a sophomore, and his brother Jacob Rea, a freshman, recently moved to Bentonville from Marshall.
“There’s a lot more opportunities here,” Payton Rea said.
Though West High School’s enrollment is only about a third of Bentonville High School’s, it’s still about three times the size of the boys’ old school.
“In Marshall, everybody knows everybody. This school, there are just so many people. It’s different,” Payton Rea said.
Sebastian Bedford, a freshman, said he looks forward to being part of the first class to complete all four years of high school at West.
“I like the feel of the school,” he said.
He also appreciates the chance to sleep in a little later than he did in junior high school because of the later start time, he said.
After completing their scavenger hunt, students reconvened in the gymnasium, where some took part in a game among the grade levels on the court.
Later, Nathan Bunch, a junior, joined Guthrie at midcourt, where Bunch was told he’d be given five questions related to the school.
If Bunch answered one correctly, he would get a free West High School T-shirt. If he answered three correctly, the whole junior class would get a shirt. If he answered all five correctly, every student in the school would get a shirt, Guthrie said.
The quiz related to things Guthrie told students earlier that morning, such as the capacity of the performing arts center — 900.
After answering the first four questions correctly, Bunch was asked what two key themes Guthrie emphasized in his speech. Bunch took a few moments to listen to suggestions from the crowd before answering, “involvement and engagement,” much to the delight of the rest of the students.
Guthrie said after the student assembly Monday that it was a celebration to cap years of hard work.
“The majority of our kids have already been in the building, which is very cool. But to see them all come in and be here as one school for the first time ever was very, very exciting,” he said.
After the morning’s festivities, each class period met briefly Monday afternoon. The school will operate on a regular schedule starting today.