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DECEMBER 2016 \ BUILDING DIALOGUE \ 33
ically had difficulty meeting capital requirements; these
grants help the schools receive capital for much-needed
improvements, but they also help motivate the constitu-
ents to vote for the bond measures that are often needed
to meet the program’s matching fund requirements,” stated
Jered Minter, principal and PK-12 specialist at Bennett Wag-
ner Grody Architects. “Everyone deserves schools that sup-
port the current and future needs of their community. The
BEST program helps offset the cost.”
The updated facilities have, in turn, had a positive effect
on the communities they serve. The town of Salida built a
high school in 2012 and an elementary school in 2014. Both
were funded in part by BEST grants. Since finishing the new
schools, enrollment has increased and theyhave rankedNo. 1 in
showing significant statistical improvement in the areas of
writing and math. Beyond the education they provide, they
inspire a sense of community and pride in the people who
live in the town. These buildings are more than just schools.
They are the centers of their communities. For example, in
Salida, they held a funeral for a local Iraq war veteran in
the school gym because it was the only place big enough
to house 1,200 people. The new Fort Morgan Middle School
that opened earlier this year isn’t just a school; it’s an event
center, a concert hall, a sports arena – a place of community
pride. These facilities don’t just fill the educational mission,
but also the community objectives. They serve as churches,
recreation centers and wellness centers. They create partner-
ships throughout the towns.
“We’ve been building in rural communities since the early
1990s, and the schools we’re seeing now are just incredible,”
acknowledged Al Slattery, education business development
manager at Haselden Construction. “One of the things we
look forward to most is sharing the new building and reno-
vation projects with the people that get to enjoy them, and
celebrating the milestones like the ground breakings, top-
ping off celebrations and ribbon-cutting ceremonies with
them.”
This change in attitude toward rural schools providesmore
opportunity for students, and all signs point to this trend
continuing. Minter notes that the next step is sustaining the
movement toward a more tailored, adaptable education.
There are at least 20 different modalities of learning, and
teachers and teaching pedagogies need to be adaptive to
individual learning styles and different types of students.
Schools should accommodate the full range of a child’s
mental and physical needs, while supporting STEM-specific
applications, collaborative learning methods, or any of the
other 21st century trends in education.
“It’s important for the buildings to reflect the needs and
present-day aspirations of the community rather than the
teaching methods of the past,” Slattery noted. “So much has
changed in education that directly affects school design. The
old way doesn’t work as well as the new modes of teaching.
You want new and renovated facilities to reflect the current
values and needs of the community, while remaining flexible
for future innovations and inevitable change.” \\
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