You’re gonna need a bigger boat

RHS ECHO High school becomes building site

In 2020, the R31- 2020 Bond

Issue received voter approval to help fund several construction projects around the district of Rolla. Planned projects for Rolla High School include new, larger instrumental and vocal classrooms, the conversion of the current main gym into an 800 seat auditorium, and a fieldhouse with approximately 2000 seats. With the increasing number of students in the fine arts and athletic programs, the new facilities will allow room for such growth. With so many people, larger spaces are needed to help keep the environment safe and enjoyable for the students and staff. “166 students signed up for band this semester,” said RHS band director Michael Goldschmidt. “... and It’s going to be safer. First off, if we had to have a fire drill during the middle of band class, or if there was an emergency fire, I can’t imagine how long it would take us to get every student out of that band room.” The sheer amount of students make drills or emergencies extremely difficult and dangerous for the student’s health and safety. Construction for RHS began in the early weeks of January. On January 10, Blossom Basket Florist and Peak Sport and Spine were demolished to begin construction of the new fieldhouse. Now that demolition is underway, parking is more challenging for both the teachers and students. “All of the parking on the Cedar Street side, adjacent to the building, will go immediately,” updated assistant superintendent Kyle Dare at the board meeting. Teacher parking will be shifted to the south side of the main office, and student parking will be shifted towards the football field. Student pick up/drop off will be moved in front of the main office to accommodate for the old site being blocked off for construction. RHS students can expect to see construction over the next three years, along with some disturbances while in their math classrooms. Students all around RHS are excited to see the changes and advancements to their respective programs as the construction begins. The band room was constructed when the band student population was less than half of what it is now. As the program continues to grow, the needs exceed what RHS can provide at the current moment. “We [Rolla Bands] really do need the space,” stated junior Kate Potter. “However, I am sad that I won’t get to experience it.” Coaches and directors are excited and thankful for what the new facilities will bring to the athletic programs for the high school. “As an assistant track coach, I’ve observed firsthand how living in Missouri brings challenges for outdoor sports due to drastic changes in our weather. Our indoor facilities are often limited due to having to share spaces with other sports and groups. So training momentum is often paused, and we lose what we’ve worked so hard to build up,” commented Cyndi Kinder, assistant track coach. “Bulldog nation has more than earned the blessing of finally being able to have a facility similar to the other schools we compete against within our conference.” The estimated completion date is in 2024, so current freshman and sophomores should be able to see and use the new facilities. The new additions to the building will help future students reach their full potential in many aspects; whether it be sports or music, they will be able to further their education in the subjects they enjoy.

Building plan from rolla31.org

School calendar puzzle

From Page 1 “The second loudest voice is just the DESE regulations,” said Hounsom. “They leave very little wiggle room in what your calendar can look like. There’s just not a lot of variation if your goal is to finish the [first] semester before Christmas and also finish school before Memorial Day in May, which everyone seems to really want.” DESE requires schools to attend a certain number of hours each semester and each year. However, RPS goes more hours than required. “If you factor in all the snow days, there are a certain number of hours that you have to build in, so you wouldn’t have to make all of them up,” said Hounsom. “We have built in days… so that it can capture all of those possible snow days within the dates that we’ve set… I would say as a school district, we do believe in going more than just the minimum number of hours that DESE requires. So part of that’s also a value judgment based on our history and the number of hours we’ve always attended.”

Construction at Rolla High School broke ground January 11, 2022.

Photos by Mallory Moats

Smith champions student voice as newly-appointed representative

Rolla High School has many student leadership positions that are unique to the school. One position empowers the student leader to express the thoughts and concerns of students to a larger audience than just people of RHS. Junior Campbell Smith is the current student representative to the school board. Smith saw opportunities in taking the position. “I saw the position was open because I kept on getting emails about it, and I was like, this kind of seems cool because I get to sit on the board and share my thoughts [about] what I think is going on around the school, and bring up any concerns that anyone has,” said Smith. “I thought that was just a really cool thing to do in general, so I wanted to help out.” This position offers advantages not usually presented to student officers of other organizations like Student Council. “One advantage is that I do get firsthand experience with the board,” explained Smith. “Just being able to talk to them is really helpful in knowing what’s going on around the school. A disadvantage, though, is that it is kind of nerve-wracking because I’m in front of all those people, and they’re broadcasting it.” There is a specific set up for this position as a student representative. “So most people have little sections. I have my own little section, but that’s mainly on events that are happening within the district. They have different specialized sections. They have a COVID specific section now. They have finances specific [section]. They have school improvement specific sections,” said Smith. “I would basically just bring up anything that I see is going on and anything that needs to be addressed. If I have a concern about something, I can bring it up.” Campbell believes that there is a need for more emphasis on student leadership. “I think there does genuinely need to

Photo by Mallory Moats

be more of an emphasis on student body clubs like StuCo,” said Smith. “I think maybe an emphasis on more scholarship based merits would be a good motivation for students because college is expensive, and having a way to pay for that is really nice. That would be a good motivator, and also the student culture could be more focused on [student representation]. It’s really isolated, unless you’re involved in it.” Having additional representatives is a thought to entertain. “It would be interesting to have a different age range, like having a freshman and a senior [as representatives]. Seeing how a freshman would look at the school and what they want in the school, and then seeing how a senior, who’s experienced the actual experience of high school, would make changes to the school,” said Smith.