South Junior High ready for all to see
Lawrence residents finally get to see what they paid for - South Junior High School hosts an open house for all to see the completed building. Enlarge video
South Junior High School had some hiccups when it was first built, in 1968. It was not ready for students until April 1969, near the end of the school year.
Until then, students gathered at the abandoned McAllister Grade School. Its two overhead projectors would short out the power if they were used at the same time.
That's a far cry from the beacon of modernity that populates the land at 2347 La. today. Sunday marked the official dedication of South Junior High and Broken Arrow schools. Several hundred students, parents and current and former teachers gathered to pay tribute to the razed old South Junior High and trumpet their praise for the new building, a $24.5 million project funded by bonds.
"I have never seen a better design or read of a better-designed building for junior high students than this one," said Orvel Criqui, who served as the first principal of South Junior High, from 1968 to 1986. He called the building "spacious and practical."
The 155,007 square-foot school replaces a circular space that was decried as dark, smelly and outdated. It was demolished in the fall.
The new building, with its storefront classrooms, broad swaths of natural light and angular designs, resembles more an airport terminal than a school. But that sort of unique innovation appeals to students.
"I kind of like that it has two different floors," eighth-grader Troy Willoughby said. "There is so much glass; you can see so much of the school."
The dedication featured speeches from past and present administrators, including Superintendent Randy Weseman and Russell Blackbird, a former principal who is now dean of the School of Education at Haskell Indian Nations University.
Weseman thanked volunteers for their "grueling months of campaigning" to get the measure passed and praised the construction crews for completing the project "on time and under budget."
Science teacher Kathy Stuntz also thanked taxpayers for "recognizing that education is a top priority in Lawrence, and our kids are worth every penny."
She said the new school shows vast differences from the makeshift classrooms teachers had dealt with since construction started in November 2006: No more shared classrooms, no portable trailer classrooms and a parking lot that isn't under construction.
Principal Will Fernandez said students and faculty can finally concentrate on learning.
"Now that we've got the new facility, with the district's mission of learning whatever it takes, now they're all about the business of teaching and learning," he said. "There are no distractions."
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woxy (anonymous) says…
From the story:
"That's a far cry from the beacon of modernity that populates the land at 2347 La. today. "
I don't know what is at 2347 La., but South Junior High is at 2734 Louisiana.
bmwjhawk (anonymous) says…
Checkers is the beacon of modernity that they're talking about.
woxy (anonymous) says…
Nope, Checkers is on the same side of the street as South. 2347 would be on the other side. There is a car stereo store right across the street from Checkers. Maybe that is it!
motomom (anonymous) says…
i like the new south. one bad thing though, is the theatre is waaaaaaaaaaay tooooooo small.
just about every event i have attended there, they have had to "open" up the back wall and pull chairs from classrooms for people to sit. then-- you are actually now sitting in the cafeteria...not the theater anymore. how in the world did that happen?
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
I agree that the theatre is too small. But at least they made it for the back wall to open up.
But why it isn't bigger is a mystery.
woxy (anonymous) says…
What happens to the acoustics when the back wall is opened up? I was at an orchestra concert in which they brought in chairs and put them in the back, but did not open the back wall. Later I heard the thing about opening the back wall, and it made me wonder about the acoustics. Why would a school have an auditorium in which you needed folding chairs at nearly every event?
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
For multiple band concerts in one night, if they don't put the waiting students in the auditorium, I think most people will fit. I don't know why it isn't bigger. I wonder where 9th grade graduation will be, because I don't know if everyone would fit in the auditorium or in the big gym.
salad (anonymous) says…
Science teacher Kathy Stuntz also thanked taxpayers for "recognizing that education is a top priority in Lawrence, and our kids are worth every penny."
More money does NOT equal better results. Pretty and expensive buildings are not where every penny should be going.
sunflowerks54 (anonymous) says…
I was in that first class at South. It looks like a much better school and a great addition to the Lawrence school district.
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
I don't think it looks like a jail or a detention center.
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
I don't think it looks anything like a jail. And if you knew anything about South junior high, the old junior high was not big enough to host their own junior high graduations. Hopefully, this school will be able to. It may not be the school you would have built, but it was desperately needed.
Your negative attitude is exactly what the students don't need to hear, who are happy to have a new school not filled with asbestos.