I know it’s hard to believe but our teachers and principals were teenagers once themselves, and yes it’s even harder to believe but some of them even went to school here. They looked at the same chalkboards, their butts sat in the same desks, and they even had some of the same teachers. It sounds crazy but it’s true. The men and women standing at the front of your classroom were once in your exact position and this is what they had to say about it.

Whether you know him from around town or you’re in his office on a regular basis, you should know that our resident assistant principal Mr. Bookamer, is a WHBHS alumni. He started out a student just like yourself (whoever you are), sitting in a WHB classroom learning all the things you did, and now he has a hand in running the school. This is what he had to say about his journey to the other side of the desk.

He started off talking about what a great high school experience he had at WHBHS. He took all the classes he wanted to and participated in all types of sports and clubs, and because of that, he made some great friends he still talks to today (like our own Mr. Moran!). He said that WHBHS was especially great because “it allowed me to get into the college I loved (James Madison).”

Looking back, he laughed as he realized many of the teachers he works with on a daily basis now taught him all of his major subjects; Mr. Wisnoski, Ms. Flinter, Mr. Broich, Mr. Mangieri, Ms. Tracy, Mr. O’Brien, and Mr. Parry. Although these teachers helped him on his way to the main office, the teacher he admired most was English teacher Mr. Wood, who has since retired.

Strangely enough, when Mr. Bookamer graduated in 1998 he had no aspirations to become a teacher; he had originally planned on joining the FBI or another branch of law enforcement. Funny to think he wanted to do that, considering he’s now the law enforcement of the high school.

He’d never actually thought of entering education until he met his wife, Kelly, who told him he’d make a great teacher. That and his love of working with others and helping people learn inspired him to take on teaching. After making the decision to become an educator, he always had aspirations to work at WHBHS. He said, “I never pictured working anywhere else.”

He says the high school is very different now, “Just physically, there are so many differences. The school is twice the size it was, the science and math wing wasn’t here, and neither was the auditorium. All the major changes didn’t happen until after I left. The technology is also completely different, we had a computer lab my senior year.”

Looking back on his social experience, of all the types of students here at WHBHS he’d probably fit best with the scholar athletes. Being a student who ended up working at the school he said the student he see’s working here in the future most is Vinny Cinque, “If he doesn’t end up working in entertainment, I can kind of see him working here, he has a lot of passion, which lends well to education.”

Who knows, maybe one of us could end up sitting at Mr. Bookamer’s desk in the future.