Over the past 20 years, Inman has grown in ways no one thought possible.
What was once a small town with a population of around 1,950 is now a town of around 3,300 and counting.
“The future of Inman has tremendous potential,” Inman City Administrator Joe Lanahan said. “We have all the required ingredients to make for a successful city. Our City Council is thinking forward and at the same time wants to preserve our traditions and community.”
With this growth comes change.
A rapidly growing community means more traffic.
“Main Street is a very busy street at certain times of day,” Lanahan said. “We need to make other options more available and increase signaling and turning options.”
The city is not the only place affected by the increase in people. The school district is as well.
Chapman’s student population has grown by roughly 200 since it moved to its current building in 2006.
“With the growth in people, it means we have more students,” Career Development Facilitator Catherine Gramling said. “It also means traffic is greater, which can be a negative.”
Even though this change can be hard, the development has brought more opportunities to Chapman students.
“While a large influx can make things feel more crowded and less personal, it has made it easier to get involved,” senior Gracie Greenway said.
Simple things like meeting new people or helping someone learn a new language can impact someone’s life. Greenway had an experience like this, and it has given her an appreciation for the growth.
“A personal connection was learning Russian and teaching English with one of my friends who was new to the school,” Greenway said.
Teachers have also been affected by this change.
More people means new students, new personalities and new challenges to overcome.
“Initially, when I came to Chapman, I taught all seniors, and with the growth of the population, the underclassmen needed more teachers to teach those classes,” English teacher Holly Hollifield said. “My whole schedule has rearranged from when I first came here, and I teach more ninth and 10th graders than I do upperclassmen.”
Students have noticed the way teachers have adapted.
“I’ve also seen the teachers handle adversity well with lots of adaptability, support and being more connected to students than ever before,” Greenway said.
Chapman has learned to be flexible with this change, including offering local internship opportunities for students to gain experience beyond the classroom. Gramling has used this growth to benefit students.
“With the growth in our community, we have seen an expansion of opportunities outside the classroom for our students,” Gramling said. “Local businesses are willing to host interns, attend our career fair to promote their line of work, meet with students individually who might like to shadow on job shadow day, offer insight into their business and even hire our students directly.”
Despite the major population growth, Principal Matt Davis does not believe major changes to Chapman will be necessary in the near future.
The school is built for between 1,400 and 1,500 students, and currently, the building has enough space.
If expansion is needed, the grassy areas around the school are an option.
“I think one of the things that makes Chapman so special is the community, and I know we’re not going to be able to stop the growth,” Davis said. “How do we find a way to incorporate the growth that we’re having into what we already have here? How do we blend the growth in our school culture and this community together? That’s going to be the future.”
