2020 EDUCATION MAGAZINE

Page 26 2020 Education Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS FEBRUARY 20, 2020 Social Studies and World History classes could share the space in between for the kids to work on projects. There will also be a new entrance located on the west side of the new addition for athletic and extra-circular events that will be easier to access from the parking lot. Because there is lot going on and a lot yet to be done, currently the start of the next school year, following summer vacation, is set for September 8, 2020. “We feel very confident that we will have the classroom areas done and the multi-purpose area done and ready for September 8th,” said Lamkey. “We won’t need the modular classrooms anymore.” Lamkey also said that the area that will become the new offices along Spring Street will not be started until the day after graduation, which is May 17th. That means a start date of May 18th on the new office construction. The crews will have to hustle this summer to get the new offices open by the 2020-21 school year. “It’s going to take a lot of things coordinating going well, and it can happen,” said Lamkey. “We are just going to have to wait and see.” Right now, Lamkey is pleased that the weather is cooperating and the crews already have the walls up and the steel is going up at this moment too. “We are hoping that by mid-April we will have roofs starting to go on and then the inside work will start as well,” said Lamkey. As far as the 2020 addition goes, Lamkey added, “It’s been fun and exciting watching it all go up. The difference in this facility, what it’s going to do for this district, everybody kind of thinks they have an idea, but they really don’t even know. “I toured Decatur Eisenhower about a year after they opened up and I had a chance to talk with their principal, and they said when they renovated their facility and they added to their facility, the very next year, and this wasn’t the only factor but it was one of the main factors, our attendance improved of teachers and students, our discipline went down and our achievement improved.” The Decatur Eisenhower principal gave a lot of credit to the improvements to the school, said Lamkey and he sees that making a difference at Mount Pulaski also. “So, I think people understanding the amount of pride that goes into this will especially happen here,” said Lamkey. “There has been nothing wrong with Mount Pulaski schools, but when you’ve got a 1912 and a 1926 building, and now everything is going to come across and feel really new, it will make a big difference about how we feel about ourselves, and I think about what other people think when they come to our community. All those things excite people and get people more interested and make people work harder. We are really looking forward to all the outcomes that are going to come from this new building.” “When I interviewed for this job a little over a year ago, one of the things that excited me was that we were putting a new building up,” continued Lamkey. “To be able to be a part Continued p