Sunnyside ceremony show community projects

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for some of the renovations at Sunnyside Intermediate School was held Tuesday, and the facilities were opened to the community.

Havre Public School District Superintendent Andy Carlson led the introduction of the ceremony, thanking the Board of Trustees for accepting the project.

"Through their leadership and their guidance, they're the reason we have this type of instruction in our district right now and I know the folks at Sunnyside are excited to be moving into the parts that they have, but they're also looking forward to when the projects are completed," Carlson said. "There are some challenges, but they are worthwhile challenges. "

In the new classrooms that have been added onto the building and in the renovated classrooms, the students sit in a modernly decorated and equipped setting - under vaulted ceilings with exposed rafters and blue-painted air-ducts, in front of smart televisions that their tablets connect to via Wi-Fi. Eventually, the rest of the classrooms will look similar to the new ones, Carlson said.

Trustee Curtis Smeby said he thought the renovated classrooms were fantastic and would be an asset to the community for years to come.

"This is a new chapter. As we develop the curriculum and the program, the facilities also need improvement," Smeby said. "We're working on that."

Sunnyside Principal Josh Preiss said that the special education classes, before the renovations, were held in one room partially separated by a partition and, now that they have two new updated rooms, working with children will be easier for teachers.

"We have so much more space and opportunity," Preiss said. "Before, we were packed tight."

Nicole Cornelius is a special education teacher at the school and said that she has been enjoying teaching in the room since the changes were made.

"Coming from a room where you had a solid one classroom and going to a place that I can actually call my own is wonderful," Cornelius said.

She said that the situation they had before could get a little loud and hectic, but they worked with it and around it.

"The nice thing about (special education) kids is they are very versatile, and they get used to that, so they just understood that when it was time to work, they worked and worked around it," she said. "Now that they have this done, we don't have to worry about it anymore."

Though work continues at Sunnyside, the results of the project are starting to show, and Havre children will have an updated facility that will help further their education. Construction on the library continues, but the students have begun using their new classrooms.

"This is good for kids," Carlson said at the ceremony. "And that's the bottom line. Hopefully the community will have this for a lot of years."