They say that no one loves a school more than its alumni, and that is especially true at Western Albemarle. In fact, some could go even deeper to say that no one loves Western Albemarle more than the alumni who became teachers. Cassidy Girvin is an English-teacher-turned-photography-teacher here at WAHS, but his background goes deeper than teaching.
Girvin graduated from Western Albemarle High School in 2005 and continued his academic studies at James Madison University. Girvin recalls his time at WAHS very fondly, saying, “It’s easy to look back with rose colored glasses. I’m sure some of the academic stuff got me down every once in a while, but no, I loved everything. I loved getting here early and staying all day for practice and getting home late. It felt good to be a part of the community.”
He also noted some of his favorite student activities being similar to his favorite teacher activities: school community, sports, and spirit week. As a student, Girvin was all in on running. He ran cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, even recognized with all-state honors one year in indoor track. Girvin said that running was “a full-time commitment” that made it difficult to get involved with any other clubs or extracurricular activities.
An interesting aspect about Girvin returning to his alma mater for employment is that many of his coworkers looked to him as a student four years prior. While working with old teachers might be some people’s biggest fear, Girvin didn’t seem to mind. “I’d say it was sort of strange when I first graduated and came back to work [at WAHS] because there’s a little bit of an age gap,” he said. “But as the years have gone on, it gets less weird.”
For Girvin, what makes Western stand out is its individuality and trust in the student body. “We tend not to have a lot of fights, or huge disciplinary issues. We’ve always had more flexibility than the average school,” Girvin said.
Girvin always knew he wanted to teach, but he wanted to take a different approach and be a gym teacher. Later in college, he decided to major in English and knew he wanted to be an English teacher. He recalled an old joke he used to tell, “I never really wanted to be an English teacher. I wanted to be an English teacher at Western.” He owes this to his favorite teacher: Mrs. Sublette or Kathy Sublette, to make things less confusing, as she is Principal Sublette’s mother. Kathy Sublette was one of the original teachers at WAHS teaching English for over 30 years and Girvin referred to her as “very inspiring.”
Girvin thinks that Western Albemarle set him up well for college academics but also thinks that what is taught to highschoolers now goes deeper than that. “I think schools nowadays are more geared towards being successful in life, whereas it used to be more about being successful academically. So I think schools now have a more broad role in our society.”
Girvin’s advice to freshmen at WAHS is to engage in the school community. “I’ve always tried to encourage, especially with the ninth graders, that spirit week is really fun. It’s one of the things I remember, it’s one of the things most graduates remember,” he said. “I think it encompasses people from all different social circles, so I would say engage; go to as many things as possible. Because that’s the stuff you will remember; you’re not going to remember the grades, but it’s the school community that you’ll remember being a part of.”
