Walking through the hallways at South, one might notice new additions to the building such as new bathrooms and a new placement of the panini line. Every year, new construction is conducted at South Casey Wright, Associate Principal of Operations and Student Experiences, said.
On a yearly basis projects to improve the school and its environment are planned at meetings with South’s administrators. Projects are ranked in a list from most important to least important, Brian Murdy, Building and Grounds manager, said. However, these improvements need to be approved by the District 225 School Board first.
“After [the projects] have been approved by the school board, the architect, engineer, and construction manager finalize the blue prints and the work goes out to bid.”
The ‘bid’ is a process where several contractors bid on the work that needs to be done, and the lowest, competent bidder, wins the job. Since this process can take a very long time, the construction is started immediately after school ends in June, Murdy explained.
Lots of major construction projects were conducted this school year, Murdy said. Projects such as the new bathrooms at State and Madison, new fencing along Hospital Drive, and new elevators in both pits.
“The biggest project this year was the new bathrooms at State and Madison,” Murdy said. “We also installed new fencing around the northwest field, fencing along Hospital Drive, fencing in the north lot, and fencing by the guard shack. We made the parking lot by the bus drop off safer, installed new elevators in the Old and New Pit, seal-coated the parking lots, and are installing a new outdoor [public address] speaker.”
After these projects are completed, students and staff can give feedback, Wright said. Staff members are able to complete a form accessible to them, while students can bring issues to an administrator’s attention.
However, the best part of the new construction isn’t the construction itself; it’s the joy and improvement that it brings to students, Wright said.
“To me it was really enjoyable to facilitate conversations about learning, because the furniture is more than just furniture,” Wright said. “It is a tool for learning, just like technology is a tool for learning. So the things in the classroom, whether it be your Chromebooks, projectors, all of those are tools for learning, so to get perspectives from teachers and students really enhances the learning environment.”
