As many are already aware, the ADM school district is building a new high school that will be finished around 2028. The ADM school board plans to incorporate many new and trendy aspects in the new schools, including students’ input on some things they would prefer to see. 

As a student walking through the halls of ADM High School, you can already tell it’s over max capacity. There is limited room in the halls, classrooms, lunch room, gym’s and even outside to the parking lot. In the morning, it’s not unusual for the turning lane into the school to be overflowing. Sometimes, it can be backed up through town, even clogging up the stoplights. All of these components point toward the need for a new facility, which is why the school is taking action. The planning and building process is going to take many years, but the school board wants to make sure they are purposeful in the design features and new aspects they will choose for our school. They want to make sure that they take the words of students and the ideas they have to incorporate into the building process. Greg Dufoe, the high school superintendent says, “We want to incorporate listening to students in the process, as you are the ones the building is being designed for.” This being said, let’s hear from some students and what they think should be included in the design of the new high school. 

I asked students from various types of classrooms what new design features they would like to see included in the new school and this is what they said:

Austin Crowder from shop class says, “All of the stuff we have now, but just upgraded and new.” Crowder also says, “In the small engines class, a lift that could lift up the whole car.” As students occasionally have big projects to work on in the shop, they need more heavy-duty equipment that would be more efficient for them. 

Hailey Johnson is a student in an ADM art class, and she wishes they had more stable tables. She says, “As I am moving clay, the tables will also move.” The current ADM high school is starting to get worn down and outdated, so it’s definitely time for an upgrade in the near future. 

Aniston Tollari actively uses the weight room and she says, “What I wish would be in the new school is a bigger track and treadmills.” The athletic rooms in the high school have many racks and necessary equipment for lifting, but it doesn’t include anything more than a couple of ellipticals for athletes who need other training equipment. Including some of these extra features, like treadmills, and bikes, would allow athletes to do the training that is best for them. 

Kaylin Dains is a student in band and something she would like to see featured in the new school is “more practice rooms and soundproof practice rooms. A better place to put instruments, and lots more storage.” We see this problem again with the overcrowding in the school, so more space is much needed, which will be changed with the new school. Dains also says, “It would be nice to have a pit for the orchestra under the theater.” 

These ideas have all come from current students in ADM High School who experience these issues every day. Taking their thoughts into account could help construct a very efficient and student-friendly school. 

Along with this, many of the teachers are going to be involved in this process as well. They have a vision committee that’s going to travel around to other new schools to see the fun and creative features they have added to their facilities. Each teacher team is going to meet with the architects to tell them what they would like to see in the building for their different departments.

Ms. Armstrong is a culinary arts teacher at ADM High School. She says something she would like to see in the classroom kitchens is, “Probably at least one side of the kitchen that’s like a commercial kitchen. A type of kitchen you would see in a TV show which would include things like fryers, so then Pro-Start classes can practice what it’s like to be in a real kitchen.” Right now, the ADM culinary kitchens are outdated and Armstrong says she would like to see “a very updated kitchen” and “everything stainless steel.” 

After talking to various students and teachers from around the school, there are many possibilities and new ideas that could be great to incorporate into the new school. Hopefully, we will be able to see many of these changes when the time comes, but for now, we will do our best to make great use of what we have.