As construction ramps up for Le Centre Brown, the new Tregaron science building, students are not the only ones excited about the year ahead; science teachers are eagerly preparing for their move and setting up their classrooms.
Currently, the tentative date for the start of the moving process is the end of April and early May of this year. This process includes sorting through materials in classrooms to donate, keep and throw away. Once this is completed, the teachers will put the materials in boxes labeled for a moving company to transfer them to the new spaces towards the end of the school year. Then, the week before school begins, they can make final adjustments, like adding personal belongings and anything else necessary.
Upper School Biology teacher Joanna Fitts is ready for the move and what it will look like. After being given a tour of the new classrooms to help make rough plans, she was especially grateful for the opportunity to make a well-curated space.
“We have been given this wonderful opportunity to put together a wishlist of new equipment, because we really want to outfit the classrooms so that they are truly state of the art and have good equipment,” Fitts said. “Just having the ability to have a wish list is super amazing.”
With the opportunity for new equipment, teachers now have to look at their classrooms and see what to keep and what to do with the rest.
“It raises the question of what do we keep?” Fitts said. “What do we discard? What can we donate to local schools? How do we prepare for a new space? We’ve been promised that we’re not just going to put everything in the landfill.”
Middle and Upper School Design Technology teacher Lance Baldwin is also thinking about what can be kept, especially as some of the equipment has been in his room for quite some time.
“I would say 75% of what is stored in here are things that were already here [before I came to WIS],” Baldwin said.
That being said, most of the tools in the room will be going to the new classroom, with the addition of some new ones in the space. As the new classroom will bring the possibility to do welding, many of the new pieces of equipment will be surrounding that addition.
“There’s a few pieces of equipment that are meant to work with sheet metal so you can cut and bend sheet metal, and then some welding equipment,” Baldwin said.
Both teachers emphasized their desire to ensure that items not going to the new classrooms get properly disposed of. Baldwin, especially with old machinery and electronics, hopes that they can go to new homes or be taken care of in an eco-friendly way.
While the process is complicated, the teachers are supported by their communities to help make it easier.
“I’m very lucky to have a partner,” Fitts said. “It’s been nice to work with Ms. Hoong. It’s nice that there are teams who are really able to sit down and match up new curriculums with needs.”
Not only is the community helping with the transition, but also with the prospect of new spaces and learning opportunities. Along with the addition of more temperature-controlled spaces, which many students are excited about, there are other aspects that are very thrilling.
“I’m really looking forward to the greenhouse,” Fitts said. “I really think we have opportunities there to grow food.”
The new spaces are also raising questions to teachers about how the new building could be impactful beyond just the classroom lessons.
“What could we grow?” Fitts said. “How can we do stuff with our school community or local community? [Can we] maybe even like fuel more of a gardening club?”
The science classrooms will also have prep rooms connected to classrooms for storage and setting up lab experiments. This helps keep the classrooms tidy and limits class disruptions. Additionally, it allows teachers to personalize their spaces with posters, art and more.
“I’m excited about being able to display student work,” Fitts said.
Baldwin’s new classroom will be about a third of the size of the existing gymnasium. With this, not only will students be able to move more freely and safely, but they will also be able to create in new ways. To do this, the room was designed to best serve the students’ learning, creativity and creation.
“Mr. Temple [Director of Facilities and Operations] worked with me a couple of years ago regarding how he and I could collaborate on the design of the room and what we thought would work best for where the tools are, where the exhaust is for welding or for dust collection, all sorts of things,” Baldwin said. “We worked closely together to make it.”
Additionally, the new dedicated welding equipment will make it easier and more efficient to complete projects with metals.
“I’ve welded some days, and it’s snowed out behind the AAA [Building],” Baldwin said. “I’m looking forward to having a workspace that’s dedicated for [welding] when that comes up.”
While the new opportunities are amazing, the teachers wanted to assure students that classes will be tremendously improved, but most of the content will remain the same.
“There’ll be more capability and efficiency, but I don’t think that the curriculum is going to change,” Baldwin said.
Especially in Design Technology, the planning of ideas is done through sketching or Computer-aid Design (CAD), so some elements will remain unchanging for students.
“We’re not going to get away from that because that’s the heart of design,” Baldwin said. “It’s just going to be more efficient, safer and I think a much better learning environment for all of us.”
Fitts also underlined that the current classrooms have been very useful for many students. There have been successful Extended Essays, labs, learning and more. Overall, the quality of the teaching will stay the same but simply be moved to an even better space.
As the teachers prepare for the new building, they also think back on the memories in their current classrooms and the people they interacted with in those rooms.
Baldwin has taught in his classroom for 11 years, enjoying many elements of it. One of them is his safety posters, which many students remember and enjoy, hung all around the walls of his room.
“I’ve had them for 21 years, and I think that they show that safety is important, but we can approach it in a way that is almost fun,” Baldwin said. “And these posters are kind of part of that. So I hope that I can put them up there.”
He has also had a routine of frequently seeing many of the same teachers for the past few years.
“I have some friends who I teach with or I work with that are always [near my classroom] and I’ll miss seeing them as much,” Baldwin said.
Not only will he miss faces, but he will also miss sounds. The location of his classroom, on the second floor of the AAA Building, means that he is above the band room, providing him with lovely music while he and his students work. Baldwin was even near the band and choir at his old school, so he has become accustomed to musical notes as he works.
“I’ll miss hearing the band a lot,” Baldwin said. “I like the energy that comes up through the floor.”
The new building means new office space for some of the science teachers. Currently, they are in the attic of the Carriage House Building. Over time, they have made a wonderful community there and many memories.
“I think that’s been something that is both exciting and also making a few people a little bit nervous because we have a very special department, and our community space is really special,” Fitts said.
The teachers might miss their spaces, but their relationships and love for their jobs will travel past the walls of the old classrooms.
“It might look a little different, but I’m ok with that,” Fitts said. “We will still have a place to eat together. We will still have a community space.”
As teachers prepare for the work ahead to get adjusted to the new building, there is much to be excited about for them and the students for the next school year. The new building will open new possibilities and be a wonderful addition to the Tregaron campus.
“It’s going to create some enthusiasm about going to science class because you’re in this new and shiny space, and you’re like: ‘I get to be in the new building,’” Fitts said. ”And maybe that’s just a little bit of excitement for students.”
By Cate Taylor
