| Springhill students celebrate move into new school |
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The gesture was symbolic, but it drew a crowd nonetheless, when students from the city's old junior and senior high buildings walked with books and balloons Friday, March 14, 2008, across the street to the new Springhill Junior-Senior High School. Tunes from the marching band, singing of the Alma Mater and a balloon release prefaced cheers from excited students, supportive parents and community members, many of whom recorded the moment. "This has been needed a long time. I'm glad I am able to see it. It's his last year here. My mother, my sister, myself and my co-worker...all graduated from here. We are all so excited to see this finally come. It's out with the old and in with the new." In 2005, Springhill voters approved an $18.5 million bond proposal that paid for the construction, as well as renovations to the city's elementary schools. The Springhill Junior-Senior High will put the seventh through 12th grades under one roof, albeit on separate sides divided by a hallway, rather than in two buildings. The modern facility replaces buildings that were constructed in the 1920s and 1940s. The former classrooms were fraught with maintenance issues, asbestos, poor lighting, inadequate electrical capabilities, damaged walls and leaks. The new one features bold, bright colors, with splashes of the school;s gold and black, a cafetorium (cafeteria with a stage) and a gymnatorium (gym with a stage). The stage separates the rooms but opens from both sides. High-tech laboratories for science and math classes, a spacious kitchen with stainless steel appliances in multiple work spaces for the home economics classes and a library that would rival any parish facility are other highlights. And a piece of the former junior high, which once was the city's high school, was worked into the design. An archway and columns that once graced the school's entrance stand just beyond the front doors and will serve as a trophy case. |
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