Talk of a New High School

Over one hundred years of memories have been built up into one building. What are your thoughts of the building of a new high school for our town? There are many disadvantages as well as advantages to having a new school. I talked to two teachers and got their input on the whole idea. One of the two asked to remain anonymous, and the other is Mrs. Rodriguez.

The first question I asked the two about the school was just for their general opinion. Rodriguez said, “I believe that having a new high school would greatly help the attitude of the students in the high school to be positive. It would also give more students school spirit because they would be proud to claim they are part of Paris Cooperative High School.” The second teacher stated that “a new school would be a simple way to address the educational and accessibility needs of students, staff and community members”.

I asked if they thought it was necessary and both seemed to agree that it was. “I fear that the community cannot handle the added expense, particularly at a time when the economy remains somewhat depressed.” Has this thought been thought of by others? I asked for what they thought the benefits of a new building would be and Rodriguez said, “Students could have more freedom to be involved in class activities. At this current school, students and classes are very cut off from each other and it makes it hard for students from different classes to interact. If there was a more open school, students could more easily interact across the curriculum. Ag students could work with foreign language students to make a project or foods students could work with chemistry students to find the chemical properties of different types of food.”

The meeting that was held a few weeks ago with the architects was brought up, anonymous says “There were some great suggestions to improve the educational environment, however the cost-benefit analysis was not addressed. I would like more information on the expenses before and after the ‘extras’.”

The idea of a new school is great, but the way the economy is right now, is it really feasible? However, being closer to the top of the list for federal funding money in Illinois, now may be Paris's only chance for a new high school for a while. Everyone involved is moving as quickly as possible so that this opportunity does not pass us by.