CALEDONIA — Of the schools in the Lowndes County School District welcoming students back today, only two — Caledonia Middle School and Caledonia High School — boast the fresh sights and smells of new buildings.
The new buildings replace facilities destroyed by the tornado that struck Caledonia in 2008 and heavily damaged the schools” campus.
“The response is unbelievable,” Caledonia Middle School Principal Karen Pittman said of a newly constructed gymnasium, the keys to which she had just received, as hundreds of students and parents excitedly crowded the halls of the school during open house on Tuesday evening. “We have never really had a middle school gym, per se, that”s really ours and this one has it all.
“It”s wonderful,” she added of the open house. “The turnout, as always, is great. We have great support from the community and great support from parents and we”re just looking forward to a great year.”
Caledonia High School”s faculty, staff and students will enjoy a new Allied Health and Trades building, which includes space for band and art studies, all of which previously were housed on the location which the gymnasium earlier occupied.
“We”ve had a real good turnout,” Caledonia High School Principal Randy Barnett said of the open house, after conducting a tour of the new facilities. “We continue to grow a little each year. And I have an excellent staff; that”s the easy part.”
“I keep telling people when school starts, I”ll get some rest,” he joked.
“It”s great teaching in a new facility,” said Ann White, an Allied Health teacher, who instructs high school students on all health care careers. “Our room was affected by the tornado and, since that time, we”ve been outside in a trailer. It was small and compact and I didn”t have room for my equipment and mannequins (on which to practice). So, the kids mostly learned on the Internet, with no hands-on experience. So, it”s going to be exciting this year with them getting hands-on experience and they get more out of it than seeing it in a textbook or on video.”
In addition to the school buildings, more than two dozen homes were completely destroyed during the severe storm on Jan. 10, 2008. Nearly two dozen more suffered major damage. The tornado was so strong it threw cars through the air and a picked up a school bus, which ended up on the roof of a school building.
Now, however, on the schools” campus, the damage is only a memory.
“We”re exceptionally pleased, exceptionally excited,” LCSD Superintendent Mike Halford said of debuting the new construction on the Caledonia schools” campus. “I think it”s going to add a lot academically and to the beauty of the campus. It”s going to change the entire look. It”s really added to that campus. We”re excited for the students.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
