By: Riley George and Gabby Burgett

After countless hours of hard work by over a hundred construction workers working with a $3 million budget, the new music area in the basement is scheduled to be available for student use after winter break.

Outside door 6 in the basement, construction has been on going since March 16. Behind the boarded-up doors, yellow tape and “Do Not Enter” signs is the production of a new choir area with new classrooms, practice rooms, lockers and a new hallway.

“There are going to be new rehearsal rooms both upstairs and downstairs in the choir room with pianos in them for students to use in addition to the classroom space,” Assistant Principal Jake Short said. “The band ones will also be inside the classroom so they are moving from outside in the hallway to inside the classrooms.”

Input with staff in the music department created a space that they will be able to utilize and benefit from.

“We were able to encompass a lot of what we needed down there,” Short said. “What we needed was a new space because orchestra and percussion are sharing a space right now. Having them in one [room] limits a lot of what they can do. Having those conversations [with the staff] really helped our architects [discover] what they could put together with our budget.”

The new music area incorporates everything that the different music departments will need to perform and practice with the extra practice rooms and larger rehearsal rooms for each department. Students will be to practice more flexibly, smoothly, and effectively than they have been able to in the past with these new additions.

“My goal is for when the students are performing, you can’t tell there is construction going on,” band director Kevin Schuessler said.

The music department has not let the construction and loss of rehearsal space get in the way of rehearsing and performing. The students and directors have pushed through the noisy distraction caused by ongoing construction.

“I’m excited for having more space to do what we do now because it is really cramped in there. During STaR

there will be two to three groups trying to practice so when there is more room it will help a lot,” junior Emma Matei, a member of Accents Choir, said.
Construction in the choir area is making progress and is on schedule for finishing on time. Both students and staff are hoping to start next semester on a fresh note.