Bartlett opens doors to community during annual Open House

By TEMPEST WILLEQUER

The Blue & Gold Staff Reporter

The Bartlett High School 2018-2019 school year started with a bang, as the annual Open House took place on Wednesday, September 5th. Principal Sean Prince began the evening with a speech about the school then transitioned the crowd into the Tanya Taylor-Winchester Cafeteria, where the smells of homemade chili engulfed everyone’s senses.

“My goal is to never just see high graduation rates. I want to see people succeed far after high school because this should not be a final destination,” Prince said, “This should be a very small blimp in their life that looks very successful as it goes on.”

Bartlett’s teaching staff vary in experience and years with the school. At the Open House, for example, there was one teacher starting just his second year of teaching, while another was beginning her 19th.

“I’ve been teaching for 19 years and everywhere I’ve taught they’ve always had an open house.” German teacher Kelly Hughes said.

Each teacher agreed that open houses are very important to a school’s community, adding that the most important part of them is getting the parents to connect with the teachers.

“Letting the parents see that there is a human behind the name, and actually that it’s not just some mysterious force that controls their kids,” English teacher Warren Rhodes said. “They can actually meet us and see we are normal and friendly. So it builds relationships.”

Bartlett’s Open House was highly successful, but with each new opportunity the event can always improve. For instance, getting the community more involved. Some ideas were thrown around during the evening to see such results.

“There’s already food,” Band teacher Jonathan Canamore said about increasing traffic. “This is already a pretty big event but maybe having easier access and larger booths would help.”

All-in-all, the Open House was very successful. Guests heard amazing speeches, saw great commitment from the teachers, and enjoyed the second annual chili cook-off.