A New Chapter for Old Mill Elementary by colton harbolt Out with the old and in with the new.
The new building will also include an outdoor classroom where students can have real life experiences by growing their own vegetables and food which they could eat or take to a farmers market and sell what they grew themselves. This will teach students how to apply math and science that they’ve learned in school to the real world while also improving their communication skills.
Old Mill Elementary is moving locations to a new building where Principal Dr. Brandy Howard has big plans for improvement in the program. Plans for Old Mill making the move to a new building are in action as the new buildings construction has already started. Howard is excited for the move and has plans to create an easier and more fun learning space for the students. Library Media Specialist Michelle Tennill is also excited for the move and all the benefits that come with it but has concerns as well.
“Project based education will go up to an even higher level of creativity. Students will have more resources and opportunities to be creative with what they do,” said Tennill. The new library’s layout will include the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) room, indoor slides and will be connected to the virtual reality room which is much larger than the current Old Mill library. Tennill believes this new layout will open up new opportunities not just for students but teachers as well. Teachers will gain new resources to change how they teach students for the better while also benefiting themselves. The new resources and technology will make teachers’ jobs easier, allowing them to stay more organized and help students understand the content of their classes more easily.
“We will be able to give the students an opportunity to create their own learning,” said Howard. Old Mill’s new building has been in construction since October and is scheduled to be completed by June of 2022 and will be located in Twin Eagles, Mount Washington. This new building will be much bigger than the original and will provide more resources and technology that will be available for the students like a virtual reality room and makerspace. Students will be able to be more creative with their learning and have more fun while they are doing it.
The current Old Mill will become part of Bullitt East after the new building is finished. This building has been Old Mill and a part of Mount Washington for years. “It will be renovated to be used by Bullitt East”, said Jesse Bacon. Photo: Colton Harbolt
Despite the major changes in this new building design markup compared to the current building, the koala logo will remain. This has been the mascot and logo for years and has become a defining quality of Old Mll. “We will be keeping the koala”, said Dr. Howard.
The new building will be a new start for Old Mill. Providing new resources for students and teachers, allowing them to be more creative and productive with their teaching and learning. Howard will get to put into action all the plans and ideas she has for the school that she couldn’t before due to the lack of resources. The new innovation will make Old Mill much more fun for students, making their learning easier while giving students real life experiences they couldn’t get before.
“There will be some big changes at the new building. We want to focus on innovation moving forward,” said Howard. When Old Mill moves to its new building, Howard plans to shift the focus to innovation and the arts for the school. Howard wants the students to have more opportunities to be creative, especially in the arts like theatre, music and art. Students will be able to apply themselves more in their activities and create their own props and costumes for plays in the makerspace.
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