FORT LORAMIE – During the past school year State Farm Insurance was offering a Celebrate My Drive $25,000 grant. Students and community members went to the State Farm website and voted for their school. The top 10 schools each received the grant. This money was used to begin the total renovation of the Fort Loramie Junior/Senior High School’s library.
“This dream became a reality through the hard work of our students and community. Their work in raising $25,000 by winning the State Farm grant was the catalyst to being able to start making this a reality. The support and commitment from our businesses and the Shelby County Workforce Partnership was also extremely humbling. Shelly Barhorst took this project on and worked tirelessly to make this happen. She volunteered numerous hours throughout the summer to supervise the progress of this project. Without her leadership, this would not have been completed in such a timely manner,” Superintendent Dan Holland said.
Several other donations from companies and individuals helped to complete the project. A plaque has been hung near the entrance to the media center thanking all those who supported this endeavor. Fort Loramie Schools have also joined with the Workforce Partnership of Shelby County.
The Workforce Partnership of Shelby County continues to expand throughout Shelby County. “The growth of the Partnership has been extremely exciting to be a part of, and we are so proud to have worked with Fort Loramie on this media center project,” said Sharon Maurice, Director of the Workforce Partnership.
Working together with school administration, along with corporate and community support, have allowed this vision to become a reality. “This project shows what can be achieved when education and private industry work together for a common goal,” said Maurice. In addition to the renovation, Workforce Partnership curriculum will be utilized and four career classes will be taught to eighth students at Fort Loramie during the upcoming school year.
At the annual school open house Monday evening parents and students were welcomed in to explore the newly renovated media center. The media center will now serve as a classroom for the Workforce Partnership curriculum, the library, and a study hall complete with computers and work stations. There are also two small conference rooms which will be used by small groups of students and other teachers and tutors.
