Recently, Masonry Teacher Rodney Harrington’s masonry classes have changed the face of the West Rowan High School courtyard. The brick risers in between the 200 and 400 buildings were removed. Now only their shadow remains, a testament to the good, and sometimes bad, times experienced there.

The reasons for their removal are quite rational. First, the risers were getting defaced quite often, and the masonry classes were tired of fixing them. Also, without the benches in place, the outpouring of students after class ends will flow better through the courtyard.

Harrington’s classes, with the help of a tractor, took three class periods to tear down, and the bricks were put in a gulley near the school. Regretfully, the masonry class suffered the loss of a sledgehammer during the operation.

The courtyard risers were used by various classes throughout the years. Students used the ampitheater-style benches to perform scenes from various plays. Often, the benches were a break from the stuffy four walls of a classroom.