Everything But a Backpack Day
Students at Lehi High approached Principal Webb and proposed an 'Everything But a Backpack Day.' Doug approved it without fully imagining the creative possibilities. The night before, his own kids asked to borrow the old microwave and crockpot. He didn't connect the dots. The next morning, students arrived with garbage cans, crockpots, microwaves, dogs, and younger siblings to carry their books. Administration huddled and reached a unanimous conclusion: the students had won. At graduation, Doug acknowledged it publicly: 'Chalk one up for the students — they beat us that day.'
Key Lessons
- • Student creativity, when channeled safely, should be celebrated.
- • Leadership includes knowing when to concede with grace.
- • The moments students remember most are rarely the lessons — they're the lived experiences.
Community Connections
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The 5 A.M. Doorbell
As a 10-year-old paperboy in Lehi, Doug Webb was late delivering a Sunday paper. The homeowner — someone Doug admired deeply — let his father know. The next week, Doug overcorrected in a very 10-year-old way: he rang the doorbell at 5:00 a.m. to prove the paper had arrived on time. When confronted, he panicked and denied it — but his dad pointed out the obvious. Decades later, Doug taught that family's grandchildren at Lehi High. During difficult years of school growth and construction, that family supported him and told others: 'Doug's working on it. We're okay.' The circle closed across two generations.
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Does Anybody Like You?
At a basketball game, Doug's son Ryan watched parents approach his dad with concerns about their kids not making teams or getting opportunities. Young Ryan turned to his father and asked, simply, 'Dad, does anybody like you?' Doug used the moment as a teaching opportunity. He explained: in a school of 1,800 students, only five from each grade would start. Every student is awesome and equal — they just are. But the system can't give every student every opportunity, and absorbing that gap between what students deserve and what systems can provide is one of the hidden burdens of school leadership.
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Four Years of Construction at Lehi High
For four consecutive years, Lehi High School was a construction zone. The design-build reconstruction — constrained by a tight campus footprint — required creative collaboration between teachers, administrators, architects from Naylor Wentworth, and the Alpine School District. Neighbors across the street endured years of dust and mud with patience. Doug describes the experience as unexpectedly joyful, despite its difficulty. 'I wouldn't change that for the world. Everyone was so good to work with.' The result was a compact but beautiful modern campus — built by a community that showed up.
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