Clark High School teacher goes the extra mile for her students

There is a table in the corner farthest from the door in Luanne Wagner's classroom at Clark High School. On it is peanut butter and jelly. For several students, it is their breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Those sandwiches are not much, Wagner knows, but at least her students will not go through the day hungry.

"Kids know they can come to me, and I'm here to help them," Wagner said. "If you're hungry, there's food here."

She feeds 20 to 50 students each day. Those students mostly do not qualify for free breakfast and lunch at the school, 4291 W. Pennwood Ave., but still cannot afford it. Others do not have the documentation to get it or have not been approved yet by the Clark County School District.

Wagner received the Cultural Diversity Foundation's Golden Hand Service Award in Education for her work with students at Clark and families in the neighborhood.

Wagner is the social studies chairwoman at Clark and the club adviser for Keeping Everyone's Eyes on the Neighborhood, or KEEN; she helps with the school's Family Engagement Resource Center, which is sponsored by the United Way of Southern Nevada; and she heads the Clark High School Charger Assistance Center, or Charger Closet, as it is known.

The closet provides food, school supplies, clothing and toiletries for students in need.

The program started three years ago, and students use it, in some cases, to feed their families every day, as well as over weekends and winter and summer breaks.

Wagner started teaching at Clark in 1999 and started another program for students with fellow teacher Joanne Ho. The Free Holiday Shopping Spree is an annual tradition in which students are invited to the school to "shop" for new and gently used donations from the community. Students get to take home gifts for each of their family members and necessities, too.

"(Ho) and I saw a need with the ninth-graders we were teaching at the time," Wagner said. "They needed food, and they were going to go home over Christmas with nothing. They seemed depressed about it.

"It evolved into realizing students need more help than what we were able to do with that program. Students were needing everyday help."

Hence, the Charger Closet was founded.

Contributors to the closet include the Clark staff and administration; the Parent Action Committee; Grace in the Desert Episcopal Church, 2004 Spring Gate Lane; Citibank; Clark graduates; St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 8901 Del Webb Blvd.; Cashman Middle School, 4622 W. Desert Inn Road; and family and friends of the school.

Principal Jill Pendleton said she feels fortunate to have Wagner at the school.

"She has angel wings and a halo," Pendleton said. "I guess I can't say enough. ... She gives so much to the community. She truly cares about the students and will do whatever she can to ensure their success."

One of Pendleton's favorite stories involving Wagner is about the wall across Arville Street on the west side of the school.

For years it was constantly covered with graffiti, said Pendleton, and the school district, county and city did not want to keep cleaning it up.

She asked Wagner and the KEEN club to take over those responsibilities if the school provided the supplies. Wagner agreed, but it shortly became unnecessary.

Once those responsible for the tagging realized it was Wagner's students cleaning their mess, they quit making one.

"Wagner put the word out," said Pendleton, "and it almost stopped overnight. It still astounds me to this day. ... It was happening weekly; now it happens maybe once a school year."

The recommendation for Wagner's award came from Ho. The two have worked closely for the last 12 years.

"As a role model educator, there's none better," Ho said of Wagner. "She's the best-kept secret in the district, and I don't want her to be a secret anymore."

Ho said it is Wagner's personalization with students that makes her so effective.

"It's not just superficial caring; it is truly caring," Ho said. "She will give you the last $5 in her purse if she felt you needed it."

Wagner actually has given students her own money on occasion.

"I know there are other schools that may have other teachers that help students out," Ho said. "But I almost dare them to compare the hours and the consistency of the years of dedication she has put in for these students and their families."

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.