Unless a student is sitting in the IMC, they will never see a teacher’s work space besides the classroom. Teachers often tell students to stay organized with their assignments but how organized are the teacher’s themselves? The top three teachers with the messiest desks are Bob Brousek, Jon Preister, and Sarah Schau, surprisingly, all instructors in the Social Studies/Business IMC.

First Place: Bob Brousek, Social Studies Head Department

Despite the looks of Brousek’s desk currently, the picture below was before his “cleaning”. From pins, to stacks of papers, to unfinished exams, they all seem to pile on top of each other to make one messy desk.

“My desk comes off as not being organized but I can find anything I need and that’s what amazes people,” Brousek said.

On the base of his desk, a person can find various handouts that Brousek has distributed to students or even curriculum ideas that he hopes to reuse. Brousek’s messiness does not go unnoticed. With a little intimidation from students and even teachers, Brousek will organize his desk every once in a while, just to have it restore back to its clutter in two weeks. Even with the various jumble, Brousek knows where everything is on his desk and, is in fact, organized.

“I have never lost a paper!” Brousek said. “Do I have to go through some piles to find the paper? Sometimes, but right now it’s in pretty good status.”

Second Place: Jon Preister, Social Studies Instructor

In the messiest desks, Preister doesn’t fall too far behind Brousek. Unlike Brousek, Preister has more objects lying around his desk as well as masses of papers and boxes in various areas. At the top of Preisters desk, a person can see two large figures that are a Democratic Donkey and a Republican Elephant.

“I acquired those from Mr. Brouseks house because his wife said they were really ugly and they needed to leave the house,” Preister said.

Along with these, Preister has two toy figures given to him by his daughter and social studies instructor Derek Fey. Preister doesn’t like spending time on organizing; he’d rather put things in nice “neat” piles. Amongst his “neat piles” a person can find track uniforms, pictures of his kids, lots of social study books, and even a penny collection.

“Students tend to use my messy desk as an excuse to not turn in assignments, and since I don’t know if they are lying or not, we come up with an agreement,” Preister said.

Preister rarely, if not ever, cleans his desk or tries to organize it.

“I do know where 98% of my stuff is and that’s all I need,” Preister said.

Third Place: Sarah Schau, Business Head Department

Department head Sarah Schau snags third place in messiest desk at Westside.

“I think that my desk is always messy because there are always people just throwing stuff at me,” Schau said.

On Schau’s desk a person can find many different gifts from students like pictures, drawings, an R2D2 tin, and even Severus Snape tape.

“I feel like if people give me stuff I have to display it on my desk so after awhile I end up with a ton of things,” Schau said.

Along with student gifts, Schau has a collection of DECA papers, shirts, and forms. Multiple kids have offered to reorganize Schau’s desk but each time they’ve been turned down. Schau hesitates organizing her desk because she knows where everything is when it’s messy.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is about messy desks, I embrace mine,” Schau said.

Although Schau has lost some things, it is not very often and she eventually finds them.

“It’s organized chaos and I like it,” Schau said.

On the contrary, Brad Metzler, Brian Stevens, and Adam Fjell had the top three consistently clean desks.

First Place: Brad Metzler, Business Instructor

Beating Brad Metzler in a clean desk contest is close to impossible. Sure, any teacher could organize their desk and make it just as clean as his, but on a consistent basis, Metzler’s desk secures first place.

“I try not to have loose stuff on my desk so I have carriers to put my papers in,” Metzler said.

The few things he does have on his desk however are very sentimental to him. All he needs are two pieces of Colts merchandise and a homemade picture frame to make his desk complete.

“I am a huge fan of the Colts so I like to have some things from their team on there,” Metzler said. “My wife also gave me this picture frame when I first started teaching at Westside.”

To keep his desk clean, Metzler tries to grade his papers within three to five days. That way he can get the papers off of his desk and maintain his spotless area.

“My tip to people, especially Brousek and Preister, would be to throw things away when you’re done with them,” Metzler said. “Use your cabinets and purchase baskets to help keep your desk organized.”

Second Place: Brian Stevens, Math Instructor

In consistency and organization, Brian Stevens wins second place in one of the cleanest desks at Westside.

“I keep my desk clean by hiding things in my drawers,” Stevens said. “If you look through them, they are pretty packed with random stuff.”

On Stevens’ desk you will find very few things out of order or lying around randomly. Any papers that he has can be found in nice piles on an organizational rack. Hanging off of his desk a person can find multiple family pictures of the Baumgartners, graduates of Westside and close students to Stevens. There is also a Nebraska clock, a printed and color coated paper of Stevens’ schedule, and big picture of Stevens face.

“Mosier printed this out for me and then decided to draw a mustache on my face and fill in some of my teeth,” Stevens said.

Along with this, Stevens has an award shaped like a hand from the Special Ed department, thanking him for always being a helping hand.

“I’d say my one tip to teachers with messy desks is once you realize you don’t need something, throw it away or recycle it,” Stevens said. “I have a lot of things I could have kept but you have to be willing to part with things.”

Third Place: Adam Fjell, Psychology and Sociology Instructor 

Finishing up the cleanliness of desks, Adam Fjell attains third place.

“I probably spend too much time organizing my desks,” Fjell said.

On Fjell’s desk a person would find pictures of Fjells’ children and past students, psychology and sociology text books, and organized piles of each of Fjells different classes. Along with this, Fjell received a Freud mug from a student, that he unfortunately only uses at home.

“Cleaning helps me function,” Fjell said. “I have a lot of unorganized piles that overlap each other and it just causes me stress.”

Fjell’s main tip to those with messy desks would be to throw the stuff you don’t need away. He believes you need to take the time to clean and organize your desk throughout the day in order to be most efficient.

“I clean my desk several times throughout the day,” Fjell said. “Not every 10 minutes by all means, but after every class.”