• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

School Building Projects Good for Students, Staff, Community

Posted on: Sunday, 5 March 2006, 13:01 CST

By Beth L. Jokinen, The Lima News, Ohio

Mar. 5--LIMA -- It's easy for Pam Smith to come up with a list of reasons the new Spencerville School building is going to be better than what the district has now.

The same list is also part of the reason the 30-year elementary teacher isn't quite ready to retire.

"I thought I would retire, but I just can't," the second-grade teacher said. "I want to teach in that new building."

Smith and the rest of the Spencerville staff and pupils are expected to be in their new 179,529-square-foot building in January. It is something the community has waited on for many years, first starting to work with the Ohio School Facilities Commission several years ago.

Smith is anxious to have more updated equipment, her own computer at her desk, air conditioning, and to "finally have a library." She previously took her pupils to the public library. She's also excited that the building will house kindergarten through 12th-grade pupils.

"It will be fun for everyone to be together," she said, saying there will be good mentoring opportunities for pupils.

A number of school districts around the region have completed building projects during the past few years, and several more are still waiting for state money to begin projects.

Allen East pupils and staff also had a long wait, but will have a new building soon. It should be completed in early spring of 2007. The 179,797-square-foot building is going to change things a great deal for band director Dennis Dellifield, who has been at the school for 39 years and has to travel back and forth from the high school and middle school.

"We'll finally have our own facility," said Dellifield, who recently had to move a high school concert to the middle school because the basketball team was using the gymnasium.

Dellifield is "cramming" 136 band members into a 900-square-foot space. That space will about double in the new building. He will also have a stage that will fit the entire band. Dellifield is looking forward to having all the bands under one roof.

"I'll be able to utilize my high school kids to help my younger kids. I can't do that now," he said.

Leipsic schools has a number of years left before it receives state money for a new elementary school and high school, but an addition is expected to be completed this summer. The $5.3 million, locally funded project includes an auditorium/cafeteria, auxiliary gym, kitchen and band and vocal music rooms.

Superintendent Alice Dewar said the district will have a second gym for the first time in its history, and the new auditorium/cafeteria is long over due.

"This is an exciting time for us," she said. "It's been since the 1970s since we've had any kind of construction, so this is a wonderful opportunity for not only the district, but also the community."

Waynesfield-Goshen School is in the planning phase of its renovation and expansion project, with construction expected to begin in about a year. Voters supported a bond issue in November to construct a new school facility while saving two additions to the current complex.

"We are simply out of room," Superintendent Earnie Jones said of the current facility, saying there are art teachers who currently don't even have classrooms.

Jones said the school is working to get residents' input on the new school. He stressed that while officials are designing the building itself, they are also making sure the building is efficiently staffed.

"We are doing our best to cover all the basics," he said. "And to make sure we are prepared for the present and the future."

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Lima News, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Lima News

More News in this Category