Garden City USD 457
Strength in diversity District becomes melting pot of cultures, languages. By RACHAEL GRAY
rgray@gctelegram.com
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tudents from a variety of different backgrounds fill the classrooms, halls and playgrounds at USD 457 Garden City Schools. The district, started in 1879, has seen a dramatic increase in immigrants and migrant workers with what began as the start of the sugar beet industry in the early 1900s. Meat packing plants, farming and feedyards have kept a steady stream of newcomers moving to the area since Garden City’s early years. By the 1950s, new schools were built for the influx of students due to booming industries and migrant work. In 1959, the district’s enrollment was 3,037 students. That grew to 3,843 students in 1963 and has continued to climb, reaching 6,006 in 1986. In 2011, the student population was 7,638. Many schools across the state have continued to grow, but something unique about Garden City schools is the diversity of the populations found in the schools. Rod Willis, math coach at Buffalo Jones Elementary School, has taught in Garden City schools for 45 years. He moved to Garden City in 1968, when the population of the town was about 15,000 people. “Mary Street was dirt. Five Points didn’t have a stoplight. A lot of things have changed,” he said. That’s not all that has changed. The demographics have changed, too. “The town has grown for sure. There’s more diversity and a larger variety of different cultures and ethnicity. That would
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Abe Hubert Elementary School kindergarten teacher Brandy Gnad, center, works with Elaine Salas to find a “C” while working on her alphabet in August at one of the class’ centers. Students shown are, clockwise from Gnad, Christopher Ortiz, Isabella Frey, Salas, Malik Mahfoud and Tripp Martinez. probably be the biggest change,” he said. Willis said when he moved to Garden City, the booming businesses included meat packing plants and the sugar beet industry. “When we started out here, it was mostly (whites) and Hispanic people. There were a lot of summer workers that had moved out here,” he said. Over the years, Willis has seen different populations come to the area, including Hispanic, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Somali and Burmese. “I think it enhances (the district). I think it makes it wonderful. You can learn about so many different things, so many different cultures and have so many different experiences. It’s just great to know all kinds of wonderful people from different backgrounds. And that’s just so exciting. I love that,” he said. The school district also went
42 Discover SW Kansas 2013-2014
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Sandra Terrazas, second-grade teacher at Buffalo Jones Elementary, helps students sound out words during a reading lesson. Terrazas teaches the Spanish track students who transition from learning in Spanish to English by the end of second grade. through an interesting transition when the population of Garden City actually become majorityminority.
In 1988, 65.8 percent of students were white, 1.2 percent See USD 457, Page 43
THE GARDEN CITY TELEGRAM