Town hosts groundbreaking for new high school

Date: 12/20/2011

Dec. 21, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — West Springfield Superintendent of Schools Russell Johnston welcomed students, builder’s representatives, committee members and state and local officials to the indoor groundbreaking ceremony for the new West Springfield High School on Dec. 15.

”A community that is stronger than a tornado is stronger than a few raindrops, we’re going to make this a great event,” he said as the ceremony began.

Noting to the student representatives from the sixth through 12th grades present in the audience that “this [new] building is for you,” he emphasized that construction of the new school was tangible proof of the town’s belief in their success.

“High school is your ticket [to success], we want to stamp this ticket to your future,” Johnston said.

He also took a moment to point out to the students how much time and effort had gone into bringing that belief to reality.

“It takes a committee to build a new high school. It takes meetings to build a new high school,” Johnston said, asking students to “think about that.”

Mayor Edward Gibson, clearly emotional as he noted this would be one of the last official duties of his term, which was due to end in January 2012, thanked State Sen. James Welch and former State Sen. Stephen Buoniconti for their efforts in lobbying the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to consider a new high school in West Springfield as one of the authority’s projects.

Gibson said the town originally approached the MSBA with plans to renovate the existing school, but after an evaluation visit, the MSBA suggested West Springfield was a good candidate for its Model School Program.

“These were words of wisdom and I’m glad we listened,” Gibson said.

He also thanked the Town Council for “having the foresight to fund this project, it would not have happened without their support.”

Town Council President Kathleen Bourque said it had been a “long and arduous journey” to get to Dec. 15, but it was “worth it to be standing here” at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Jack McCarthy, MSBA interim executive director, noted that the new high school would position West Springfield to not only prepare its students to meet STEM –Science, Technology, Engineering and Math – goals, but also STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Math – which adds an arts element to those educational goals.

“There is no better investment a community can make than in the education of its children,” McCarthy said, adding, “The MSBA could not be better served than by partnering with West Springfield.”

Welch recalled memories of his time at the current West Springfield High School during his remarks, noting that the new building would give his hometown “a fresh perspective in West Springfield.”

This makes me proud to say West Springfield is looking out for the future of [its] education,” Welch said. “It really took a village to get this where it is today.”

State Rep. Michael Finn echoed a similar sentiment, adding that the new school “represents that sense of collaboration between state and local governments” necessary to bring a project of this magnitude to fruition.

Buoniconti, a West Springfield resident, said the school was “for all of us who bleed [the school colors of] black and white, who love this town and stay here” and “a project that residents and taxpayers can be proud of.”

Mayor elect Greg Neffinger, who attended the groundbreaking, told Reminder Publications that he had accompanied the group of town officials who recently toured the model school in Tewksbury on which the new West Springfield High School will be based. He said the tour illuminated some areas where the town may need to tweak the design, but as an architect he appreciated the opportunity to “see the actual building construction.”

He added that as an architect “it’s exciting to see the plans and move forward.” He is also looking forward to “getting into discussions about our taxes, the population and how we educate our kids” once he takes office.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by email at debbieg@thereminder.com