New School, Who Dis?
The new State High sits quietly while students gets used State College high schoolers moved into their new building on January 8th. Although taking a while to get used to, students have been very vocal about their opinions of being in the new school. David Shoemaker, junior, says, “I like the new school. I think just the atmosphere of the new building is something cool to be a part of.” Construction will continue throughout this year and well into the future.
January 19, 2018
On January 8th, students of State College Area High School were welcomed back from holiday break with a pep rally designed to get everyone excited about moving into a brand new school. Construction for the new building began in the fall of 2015, meaning that all of the students have been surrounded by the construction in the past for the majority of their high school careers. Having to dodge the construction means taking longer routes to classes, which a lot of students did not like. “The construction has made it tougher to get from point A to point B, and it is a little frustrating to have that for the two years I’ve been here, to just now be getting a new school,” said junior, Ben Vollmer. Teachers started moving all of their supplies into the new building over break. Math teacher, James Schaper, said, “I really like the new building, I think it allows students to interact more with each other. Whereas in the old building, everyone was pretty closed off.” Students have mixed reactions about moving into the new school. Junior Neal Singer said, “It’s too bland. It’s just a bunch of the same stuff over and over again.” Another junior, Keaton Ellis, said, “It’s a little underwhelming, maybe if they had it completely finished when they let us in, we’d appreciate it more.” However, there are a lot of students who really like being in the new building. “It has a lot to offer. It’s exciting being in the new building compared to being in the old one,” junior, Gabe Edgar, who said. With the help of social media, staff and students were able to hype up the grand opening. Even though the school won’t be completely finished in the summer of 2019, the school board decided it would be a good idea to get out of the old buildings as soon as possible so that construction could proceed on schedule. The old South building is now just a cafeteria and the North building is used as the same, along with the gym and the athletic offices still being in use. The first two weeks in the building have been full of new experiences that will take some getting used to, but the students are willing to adapt.
