JACKSON CENTER — Hundreds of students, teachers, parents and community members turned out for the dedication of the new Jackson Center school and annual open house Sunday afternoon.
Student Council President Kennadie Reese, 18, presided over the student-led ceremony which featured speeches from several different grades, and a dedication by high school senior Gavin Booser, 18, who is planning on going into youth ministry. Claire Morris, 6, who is entering kindergarten, told the crowd she was excited for the new playground. Ian Stengel, 10, who is entering fourth-grade, said he was looking forward to air conditioning.
“The progress that has been made since the old building was torn down until now is just amazing,” he said. “There are two things I look forward to most. No. 1, air conditioning. Since there was no air conditioning in the old building it made it really hot and hard to learn sometimes. Number two, the new playground.”
Laura Clinehens, fourth- and fifth-grade science teacher, agreed with his sentiments.
“I was in the old high school building, so this is definitely a new experience being in a building with so many facilities,” she said after ceremony. “I have three sinks, where I just had one before. I have air conditioning, I have a larger room where we can move around. It was just so hot it was hard to get through the day in the fall.”
During the opening ceremony, Reese thanked supporters and said this year was bitter sweet.
“The support of this small town is one of a kind. Not only do we have amazing support here today, but at every different activity we participate in during the school year,” she said. “It does sound like it is my year of lasts, but it is my year of firsts also.”
Reese also noted the building now accomodates the size of the choir, the agriculture department, the FCCLA program and also provides new facilities such as the outdoor courtyard, increased natural lighting and gym which anyone in the school can enjoy.
The new building has many improvements, beyond the play ground and air conditioning. Each student will have a chromebook this year, and areas like the cafeteria/auditorium have USB charging outlets for the students to charge their devices.
“Now we have all this technology that we can incorporate and (the students) are learning,” said Clinehens. “I think they’re going to be enthused about coming to school.”
The almost 63,000-square-foot building also features a stage for performance and public speaking, interactive learning boards, gym, outdoor dining and greenhouse. There is also a new security system with cameras for increased safety and access control. The new building serves primarily pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade with 15 classrooms, and once finished will be nearly 131,000-square-feet of new or renovated space for all Jackson Center students.
Fifth-grade student Cortney Copeland, daughter of Mike and Becky Copeland, said the new building was a good opportunity for students to learn more effectively.
“I’m excited for the new classrooms and the areas we get to learn in,” she said. “It’s a lot more modern. It’s kind of all exciting, because fifth-graders will be the oldest in the building, and we’ll get a lot of chances to help the younger kids with things and try and figure out things ourselves. That’s got to be the most exciting part.”
Coltin Rose, 17, Jackson Center’s FFA treasurer, was showing visitors the new agricultural education shop. The shop has many updated features, including new welders, three material tables, toolboxes and a greenhouse. Rose believes the new facility will help students of all backgrounds learn more effectively.
“We do woodworking, welding, possibly a little bit of metal fabrication in here and I believe this shop will be a great asset to our agriculture program,” he said. “We have all kinds of kids, and we bring them in here and teach them some skills they can use later on in life. This shop is a little bit bigger than our last facility, we have more storage and we can actually bring things in through the big doors and work on things like trucks or tractors.”
The new Ondo film on Jackson Center was shown at 3 p.m. during the open house. The movie explored the town’s interesting economy, community and history. Many people stayed to watch the film. The documentary will also be shown Monday, Aug. 28, at 6 and 7:15 p.m. in the Elder Theater with free admission, and a TV version will run on WTLW TV 44 on Sept. 29 at 9 p.m. and Oct. 7 at 10 p.m.
School starts in the new building on Aug. 29. Some construction is still underway in the 1965 and 1982 sections, expected to be finished by Thanksgiving. Superintendent Bill Reichert said he was pleased with how the day went.
“I’m really proud for our community and I’m proud for our students,” he said. “I hope they enjoy what we’re trying to do here and hopefully we’ve created a building that kids want to be in.”
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