www.newstrib.com/articles/news/nci/default.asp?article= -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 6/27/2009
Last Visited: 6/28/2009
Building and grounds supervisor Ernie Engstrom, who had previously served as principal at Northbrook School, examines progress made in the new life skills classroom.
...
One fourth-grade classroom will become the new art room, and building and grounds supervisor Ernie Engstrom said a lot of the equipment from the former art room has been re-used in the new room which will be more central to grades 5-8.
Last year, the space crunch at Northbrook forced the district to move the life skills classroom into the administration's boardroom.
Now the students will have a space in the main building.
The classroom also will have access to a long-forgotten bathroom in the fifth-grade wing of the school.
Engstrom said the original bathroom had been used as a storage closet for many years and was a surprise find as they plotted out new uses for the old spaces.
With handicapped-accessible upgrades, it will return to service.
Content Continues Below
Overall, the spaces will make more sense for Mendota's middle school, a concept that was implemented while Engstrom was principal at the school.
Engstrom had retired from the district before he accepted the part-time building and grounds position.
Much of his early enthusiasm for the middle school concept remains as he watches the building transform into learning zones for the different grade levels.
"All the seventh- and eighth-grade classes will be together," he said.