Many Agree Positives Outweigh Negatives

Students at 2-year-old Timberlake High School say the split from Lakeland High School has produced many positive changes.

But the division has had some unintended negative consequences, as well.

Although most classes have about the same number of students, the more advanced courses have smaller class sizes. This gives students the chance for more one-on-one attention.

“It’s really nice having less kids in the class,” said junior Brianne Wickstrom.

“The higher, advanced courses are a lot better because the teachers are always there to help you step by step,” said junior Tiffany Miller.

But having a smaller student body means that some classes aren’t offered at Timberlake but are offered at Lakeland.

Wickstrom said she was looking forward to taking an anatomy and physiology course her senior year. She will not be able to because there were not enough people who enrolled for the class and it will not be offered.

Another problem is whether the school can offer calculus. Currently, only three people are enrolled in the math course and that’s not enough to constitute a class.

Timberlake Principal Kurt Hoffman said he’s working on a plan to offer the course for those students. He’s looking into a video conference class with Lakeland or zero-hour dual enrollment through North Idaho College.

Another drawback to the division of Lakeland is the athletics at Timberlake. Timberlake has had a weak athletic record in its first two years.

Senior Jack Sanborn said he felt that if there had not been a split, Lakeland would have been unbeatable. “Had we stayed at Lakeland, Lakeland High School would have won state championship for every sport,” Sanborn said.

Miller said, though, that the division got more students involved in sports.

Another complaint about the split is the now-intense rivalry between the schools. “You used to be friends with them, but now you’re enemies,” Miller said.

Overall, many students said the few drawbacks of the split do not outweigh the positive changes that have taken place.

U.S. History and English teacher Phil Zimmerman agree. “I think it’s a really good thing for this community to have its own school,” Zimmerman said of the Spirit Lake and Athol area.

Many students appreciate the split of Lakeland because it gives them a chance to meet more people.

“You get to know people that you didn’t know because it’s smaller,” said junior Brittney Fulwiler.

“It gave me a chance to meet a lot of new people,” said senior Angie Campbell. “I grew apart from a lot of my (Lakeland) friends that I was close to.”

The death of freshman Kamela Durbin shocked many students of Timberlake last week.

Durbin died from injuries suffered in an auto accident on U.S. Highway 95.

On April 27, a moment of silence was dedicated to Durbin during first period, and no morning announcements were made.

On April 28, a memorial for Durbin was held in front of the school at the flagpole. More than 100 students gathered, bringing flowers and comforting each other in the loss of their classmate.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Feedback

No administrator or coach could honestly claim that they believe all their athletes are clean. The contract forbidding use of drugs and alcohol (which is largely redundant, as these activities are already illegal) is nothing but a meaningless procedural issue, serving to enhance the school’s public relations image, or more likely to fulfill some mandate from a few levels up the bureaucracy, contrived for the same reason.

Although I’ve not heard the specifics of the Timberlake newspaper article and subsequent controversy, I’m irritated to hear that the masses decided to tar and feather the messenger. If, indeed, the collective student body and administration has no problem with drunk football players, then they should oppose the contract in the open, with petitions and demonstrations, but just ignoring it undermines the integrity of the institution and will only come back to haunt everyone involved. Joshua Haberman

Editor’s note: This comment was received on the newspaper’s “In the Schools” Web site in response to a March 11 article by Michelle Clark of Timberlake High School.

We’re interested in what you think about this issue. If you have access to the Internet, click on http://intheschools.spokane.net and leave your comments on the message board for the “In the Schools” Web site. On that site, you will find current and past articles written by our student correspondents from the high schools in Kootenai County. We will select some comments from the message boards for future publication in Handle Extra.