By Paula Mulrooney, Photo Editor
Construction has been ongoing here at Kennedy with improvements to the parking lot, security cameras, fencing, and new classroom buildings and lockers. These classroom buildings were installed to allow teachers to relocate.
The 400s buildings have a wide variety of classes. With the demand of new subjects such as STEAM, foreign language, and medical careers, the final decision was to relocate the classes into different classrooms. ROP Medical Careers will be the 400 buildings and will be moved to room 705 to provide supplies and space needed for the class.
“There’s a lot of movement and a lot of impact, but overall in the long run and bigger picture we have to understand that we have to use our facilities to the best of our ability,” Assistant Principal Rafael Santiago said.
These classrooms by the 400 court will remain vacant until further notice. The new classes to be installed in the 400 buildings are Teaching Student with Special Needs in room 411, Resource Specialist Program in room 412, and Korean class in room 413.
Near the 900 buildings, lockers have been installed alongside the wall. Wood Technology, taught by Erik Haaf, installed new lockers in order to provide space for the students’ projects. The lockers allow for projects to be stored safely rather than placed in a bin on a shelf. The cost of these lockers was provided by grant money from Career and Technical Education (CTE) to modernize the engineer class.
“Mr. Gupton and I have been working for several years on getting ready to implement a plan for an entire six year pathway together. Next year is the first year for true implementation of engineering,” Haaf said. “We’re putting together an introduction in engineering course that guide a multi pathway through fabrication, engineering, and computer coding.”
The rotation between the classes allows the STEAM class taught by Jack Gupton from Walker Jr. High to be provided at Kennedy in room 604, the current ASB room. This allows the STEAM class to coordinate education plans with the wood technology class. John Hoganson’s English classes and fourth period ASB class will be moved to room 803, which is currently English taught by Melissa Soeltz. Soeltz will be part of 400 court as well in room 403.
“Moving will benefit both ASB and the school for sure,” ASB President Alexis Aguilara said. “Right now the ASB room is completely isolated from the rest of the school. The room will be more accessible to the general student body.”
Construction is estimated to be finished by the end of the semester. With relocation in process, these new classes will be able to join Kennedy’s campus and create a more diverse environment. Now, Kennedy is not only an IB school, but also a school with a variety of programs that allow students to explore multiple career pathways.
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