You have probably already noticed the construction around SHS. Between the loud drilling and the numerous workers hefting wooden planks through the hallways, it’s hard to miss. As a recent initiative, the administration has decided to revamp old areas and create new spaces throughout the school to build upon students’ opportunities, ensuring that there is something in SHS for every type of person. The recently opened fitness center has state-of-the-art gym equipment, complete with sleek rowing machines, weights, and bikes that will hopefully motivate students to exercise. “Fitness is for everybody. We want to make sure as many students take advantage of it as possible,” stated Assistant Principal Chris Renino, who has worked hard to make these new facilities a reality. The fitness center was built to provide a safe, comfortable environment where students are able to exercise freely. Next, the learning commons, which is expected to arrive in late fall, is an area where students can relax, have a snack, and work on group projects. Though its purpose may sound very similar to the library’s (a place for everybody to come together and study), the administration hopes to differentiate between the two by catering the new commons to fit learning styles of more engaged, extroverted learners; this will help the library return to being a place for students of more traditional learning styles. “There are students who are active learners, and the learning commons facilitates that kind of engagement with students who don’t separate their talking from their eating from their learning and so on,” explained Renino. Another addition to SHS is the design lab that will replace the auto shop, where STEAM courses can work on robotics and engineering projects, and to take it a step further, give them an opportunity to prototype. The design lab hopefully will be completed by the beginning of the second semester, despite the holdup caused by the courtyard construction. The final area being constructed is the iLab, a room replacing the old fitness center, where students can work on technology-based projects and apply their tech skills in-depth as they use a much wider range of methods. All of the construction on these different facilities is expected to be finished before the third quarter, when they will be open for students to enjoy and to explore a variety of opportunities that were not previously available to them.

As the official opening of these new facilities grows closer, SHS students have already begun noticing and using some of the areas that have popped up around school. “I’m really excited, and I can’t wait to be able to use these cool new spaces,” noted Magan Chin ’20. Hopefully the new spaces will give students of all interests and backgrounds a chance to have fun, work hard, and follow their passions.