Phenix City STEM center groundbreaking includes history lesson
Before the dignitaries, donors and students grabbed the golden shovels to ceremonially break ground for the $2.1 million Dyer Family STEM Center, a former principal gave a history lesson to those gathered Thursday outside Phenix City Intermediate School.
Joe Blevins, now the operations director for Phenix City Public Schools, told the crowd of about 60, plus the Central High School Band, that three words sum up this project, which promises to better engage sixth- and seventh-graders in science, technology, engineering and math: Dream, vision and reality.
In 2003, a group of teachers -- led by April Harrell, Shirley Garrett, Robin Thomas and Carolyn Kimball -- had a dream to "provide our children with the best inquiry-based instruction and to help them reach their full potential," Blevins said. As a result, Phenix City Intermediate School became one of the country's 50 NASA Explorer Schools, he said.
Fast-forward to 2014, when the Phenix City Board of Education hired Superintendent Randy Wilkes, who brought a vision with him from Crenshaw County, Blevins said.
"The vision included a state-of-the-art STEM center to provide our children with 21st century tools so they could be ready for the careers of the future," Blevins said. "The breaking of this ground is symbolic of the commitment of our school system, our stakeholders and our community to make this STEM center a reality."
Car dealer Gil Dyer and his family brought that reality closer to fruition in June, when Wilkes announced their $150,000 donation for the center's naming rights. Four months after setting its $1.1 million goal, the Friends of Phenix City Schools already has raised $730,000 in contributions or commitments from more than 180 donors, said board president Brad Baker.
"To all who have given," Baker said, "we say thank you."
The funds will help pay for the STEM center and a $3.1 million expansion project at Central High School, comprising a 150-by-150-foot multipurpose turf surface surrounded by an estimated 22 weight stations, two 60-seat stadium-style classrooms, a training room for the healthcare academy and an unspecified number of offices, all connected by walkways to the freshman academy. The school system is waiting for permission from state officials to bid out the expansion project, so completion is "10-12 months away," Wilkes told the Ledger-Enquirer on Monday.
As for the 9,500-square-foot STEM center, scheduled to open in August 2016, it will be "a one-of-a-kind-in-the-world building," Wilkes boasted during Thursday's ceremony.
The facility is the centerpiece of the school system's focus on improved instruction, dubbed the i3 Initiative, emphasizing inquiry, innovation and impact.
"The end result of these efforts are high school graduates who are both college and career ready," Wilkes said, "who will return to Phenix City someday, adding to the quality of life."
Sixth-graders Jade Paul, Dailyna Hall, Cailynn Gertz, Savelly Perez, Haley McDonald and Mikayla Carter read aloud the purpose of the center's eight labs and the names of the companies that donated $25,000 for the naming rights:
The CB&T of East Alabama and Synovus Engineering Lab will be completely Web-based and enable students to design, simulate and analyze objects such as structures, rockets and prosthetics.
The Aflac Digital Media Lab will allow students to use print, text, audio, video and the Internet to communicate with multiple audiences.
The Phenix City Education Foundation Chattahoochee River System Lab will combine the elements of an aquarium and a terrarium to produce a habitat where plants, animals and microorganisms interact in ecological balance.
The Phenix City Education Foundation Saltwater Aquarium will teach students about fish anatomy, the food chain, the water cycle and the nitrogen cycle.
The TSYS Coding Lab will show students how to make and import objects and create recordings to develop interactive projects.
The WestRock Virtual Science Lab will allow students to perform more than 270 different kinds of dissections.
The Dr. Stephen Cooper Imaginarium will include exhibits from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Smithsonian Institution, allowing students to virtually explore the world and the universe through the Magic Planet, a digital video globe.
The Cable TV of East Alabama Interactive Atrium will contain anatomy, health and weather exhibits.
Wilkes also thanked Mayor Eddie Lowe for the $200,000 appropriation the Phenix City Council announced earlier this month. Lowe said it's up to the school system to decide how to use the money -- and Wilkes' administration and the board determined it will fit mighty fine with this project.
Lowe, a former University of Alabama and Canadian Football League linebacker, called it another example of a partnership building a championship.
"What that entails is giving of yourself for a common cause," he said, "for something that is bigger than you are."
Solid partnerships can survive disagreements, the mayor added.
"It doesn't mean you're not going to push each other," he said. " We all think that our ideas are the best. But you have to put those aside and get to that common denominator, and that's what we're doing here for the sake of our kids. Because when we do that, Phenix City will be a champion through our education. And I want to applaud this superintendent and this board for doing a wonderful job as far as raising our level."
Lowe concluded, "This is a momentous day for Phenix City. It is a momentous day for our school system. But, more important, it is momentous for our children of Phenix City."
Hecht Burdeshaw Architects Inc. of Columbus designed the center and CAM Builders LLC of Hatchechubbee, Ala., will construct it.
"We look forward to a job completed in a timely fashion, within budget and safe," Baker said.
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
HOW TO DONATE
To help the Friends of Phenix City Schools reach its $1.1 million goal, contact Lara Beth Johns, the school system's public information manager, at 334-298-0534 or lbjohns@pcboe.net.
This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Phenix City STEM center groundbreaking includes history lesson ."