22 Mar 2010 A lesson in beauty: Principal works to foster school pride

“If you’re talking about student achievement, environment plays a role in achievement,” Ashworth said. “If you look at any of the research, it will tell you that even facility condition and upkeep play a role. That really impacted me when I got this job. It’s one of the things I talked about in my interview here.

“You want it to be a place where the students show up and they have a sense of pride and they’re proud of where they are and the community is proud. You can beautify a number of ways without having to put up new buildings. You can come up with cost efficient ways.”

Finding the funds to make the improvements is challenging. “Funding can be tricky. We’re always looking for grants. Funds are limited, especially at a school our size. We’ve got a really tight budget. We make do with what we have and make improvements where we can. We try to prioritize.”

Ashworth and the school beautification team have thus far focused on improving the front of the high school building. They added lighting, landscape rock, concrete steps and a pair of black steel benches that say “Bigelow” and “Panthers.”

“The big thing is, now it looks like an entry way, whereas before it was hard to tell what was the front and back of the building,” Ashworth said.

The next project is a 25-by-8-foot flower garden volunteers hope to build at the front of the entry. Ashworth and volunteers will begin work on the flower bed when the weather is warmer.

The beautification efforts were going to have to be put aside this spring as Ashworth was scheduled for deployment to Afghanistan with the 188th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard. However, on what was to be his last day of work at the high school, he broke his ankle in a fall he could only describe as a “freak accident.” He found out March 1 that he will be unable to do his military job duties and is therefore not going to be deployed.

“It’s very hard, because (I have) really mixed emotions,” he said. “I’ve got a family I would have had to leave, but the guys I serve with are basically family too. On the other side of the coin, that hurts. All this time you train for a specific mission and a specific opportunity, and you’re not able to do it. And it’s rough. But there’s a reason everything happens. I believe that, and it’s going to turn out best in the end. I have to believe that.”
Bigelow Superintendent Myra Graham said, “We’re very pleased with the efforts of Mr. Ashworth. He’s made a difference for the staff. He’s made a difference for the kids, and we’re pleased that he’s here in our community.

“We are so pleased with the beautification team that he’s put together. Those new steps that wrap around the front, the new benches, and our future plans for the small garden out front have really changed the look of the campus, but that’s just the beginning. He has some new plans for improvement, and so does the district. Some of our stimulus money we’re going to use for that beautification effort through renovations. That just kind of adds to what he’s working on.

“The way a high school looks is very important. It lets the kids know that we respect them and we’re glad they’re here and we want to provide a nice environment in which for them to learn. Due to cost, we just have to do it one step at a time. We’ve got big plans. I just can’t wait to see them all through to fruition.”

Ashworth said he once heard it is easier to reinforce a good first impression than to overcome a bad one.

“It makes a lot of sense,” he said. “If someone comes in with a good impression, then they can see what’s going on inside, because we’ve got a lot of good things going on inside.”