In celebration of the completion of the new addition at Homestead School, a ribbon cutting and time capsule ceremony was recently held at the school in and outside of the new addition.
Students and staff members, resident neighbors, Sen. Kemp Hannon, Assemblyman Ed Ra, Mayor Don Brudie, Village Administrator Bob Schoelle, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Althea Robinson, PTA and SEPTA members and retired teachers who joined with Board of Education President Colleen Foley and Trustee Angela Heineman, district administrators, Homestead Principal Dr. Suzanne Viscovich, and representatives from BBS Architects (who designed the addition), T.G. Nikel (who managed the construction) and Con Ed Solutions (responsible for the energy upgrades) all joined together to officially open the new space.
Homestead’s addition was just one of many expansion and improvement projects made possible by the community’s support of the 2009 School Investment Bond.
The addition at Homestead includes a beautiful art and music classroom with a vaulted ceiling and expansive windows, a library and media center, a new classroom, new offices with storage closets and new instructional support spaces.
The art and music room includes permanent, tiered risers designed to allow students to practice lining up, singing and exiting for concerts. Previously, these rehearsals were held on temporary risers in the building’s all-purpose room.
“I have become a better teacher and the students have become better learners because of this space,” explained music teacher Heather Little during the public tour of the new space. “The acoustics in here are really great!”
Previously housed in the all-purpose room, and separated by only a curtain, art students used to share their space with simultaneously-running physical education classes. In the new space, art and music classes use the room exclusively, and not at the same time. Now, art supplies can be easily accessed and moved from storage closets a few feet away instead of being transported on a cart to a space with no available running water.
In the new library and media room, students have access to more than 9,000 books and 13 computer work stations, making the written word in all its forms come to life for aspiring young authors and researchers.
As part of the district’s Energy Performance Contract (EPC), the existing school building received new windows and doors, new ceilings, sunlight- and motion-sensitive lighting (lights dim if sunlight levels increase or automatically turn off if movement is not detected) and dual-fuel boiler upgrades.
According to Con Ed Solutions, the company awarded the EPC, energy upgrades at Homestead have been calculated to save 154.5 tons of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually, or the equivalent of saving 3,221 trees.
In keeping with these savings, students in Amanda Marino’s art classes created the ribbon used at the ceremony by drawing, cutting out and coloring 268 trees to represent the savings in trees for just one month. A section of the tree ribbon and examples of “old” energy were added to a time capsule by students during the ceremony.
The capsule will be buried near the new addition.
On behalf of the current students at Homestead and generations of future learners to attend the school, the Board of Education and district administration thank the residents of Garden City for supporting the 2009 School Investment Bond that made the construction of this beautiful addition possible.
Story submitted by the Garden City School District
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