50 Years at West

“I remember the first comment I made to the student body: ‘Welcome to the only high school in the state of Iowa undefeated in any athletic team there,’” Barker said. It’s been 50 years since those very first words and although West is no longer undefeated, Barker’s attitude of success remains at West. The school opened in 1968 to a worrisome start; the district ordered th...

When Arganbright first came to Iowa City, he thought he’d stay here for three to five years. Thirty-one years later, on the road from Iowa City to Kansas City, Arganbright realized he couldn’t be more wrong. Yet, his three decades at the school didn’t come without its hardships. “For several years, West High School was always perceived as the "second" high school in Iowa City. Our fac...

Having been the principal at West for three years, it may seem like Shoultz is a newbie when it comes to West High, especially when compared with the longevity of the two previous principals. Yet, Shoultz’s experience with our high school goes back quite a ways. Not only was he the principal at Northwest Junior for 12 years, keeping him in frequent contact with West High, but Shoultz was act...

“I must say that I take pride in being a member of the first graduating class,” said Virginia Reynolds ’69. “However, this was not always the case.” Being forced to switch from City High to a new school wasn’t exactly an ideal senior year. “Such disappointment. Our class was being split. Sports, music, theater, academic programs - not to mention friendships. I felt like we would become t...

“Going to West High as a senior was bittersweet,” said Carol Baumback ’69. “Many of my dearest friends remained at City. It was exciting to go to a brand new school, but it was hard for our class to be split apart our senior year.” Baumback wasn’t the only disappointed student. “I was angry [and] unhappy but it really turned out to be a great year,” said Mike Hansen ’69. ...

Nate Kaeding Seventeen years ago, Nate Kaeding ’00 graduated from West on his way to play football at the University of Iowa. A few years later, he would be drafted as a placekicker with the San Diego Chargers for nine seasons. At West, Kaeding was occupied with sports all year long including football, basketball and soccer. While playing football, he had the opportunity to play in the ne...

In the last 50 years of West High, over 2,000 students have walked through the West High band program. Of these band alumni, 36 came back Sept. 22 to play "Hey Jude" in the halftime performance of the home football game. Here we take a look at the tales of the band program from alumni young and old.   David Yussen ’95 Time and distance have faded my high school friendships, unfortunately, but marching ban...

There are more than enough stories about West High to fill a page. We've selected some of the most intriguing stories to give just a small slice into the extraordinary events to fill West's history books.   Tweens at West The number of jokes about freshman seems to get only more common the older that a student gets. This begs the question: what if freshmen weren’t the youngest students at ...