Student Center

Leann Yodka and Briseyda Reyes

As you all know the new building (also known as the Student Center) is finally almost done! After watching the construction on your way to school and looking out the window during classes everyone will be able to see the inside come January! There have been plenty of rumors and assumptions going around the school about what will be in this new addition, what the cost was, and more, so let’s get this all cleared up.

In the student center, you will find a new and improved cafeteria which can seat between 500 and 600 students, reducing the amount of lunch periods. There will no longer be long tables with built in stools. Students can choose between tables seating four to eight people with chairs that are not attached. Lining the cafeteria will be higher tables where students can sit along the windows to charge their laptops and look outside at the mural across the street. There will also be a more efficient system when it comes to obtaining lunches. Any rumors going around about the food changing can finally be put to rest because as of now the school will still serve the same lunches and students still need to have money on their IDs in order to get school lunches.

Also, in the new building you will find a multipurpose room that can be divided into two rooms if needed, and a beautiful galleria area. The galleria area will be the first thing you see when you walk in through the new main entrance. Along with the five different stairwells and elevator, this area is expected to reduce the traffic of students going to and from lunch and provide shelter for students before school if the weather is extreme. When asked about the galleria use for students before and after school, Mr. Shaw happily said, “I don’t think it would be a problem for students to be in this area with security being present.”

When access to the student center is finally granted, things might take some getting used to with the several room relocations. The Main Entrance will now be on the south side of the student center. When you walk in you will be greeted by our wonderful security staff who will be sitting at a new, smaller desk allowing them to see everyone and not be hidden away. You will also find that the bookstore, help desk, and credit union have relocated to this new part of the school.

As for the outside of the building, Mr. Shaw and the school board wanted to have a wide sidewalk and tables around the rounded part of the building for students to hang out but because of code requiring a retention pond due to the slim possibility of flooding. East Van Buren Street will be turned into a drop off area for students and a small visitor’s parking lot. Depending on school funds and priorities, the exterior walls around the entire school may be power washed and cleaned up to match the new clean building.

Who do we have to thank for this amazing new expansion of our school? “We are fortunate in district 204 to have a school board that believes in the Diogenes quote displayed at the top of the auditorium; ‘The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.’ They approved the 28 million dollar capital improvement,” says Mr. Shaw. During an extremely informative interview with Mr. Shaw, he also discussed the grand opening of the student center. Come the end of January, around five or six o’clock one evening the doors to the new building will finally open for people in the community and students to finally be welcomed in and see everything.