In May of 2023, the renovation of the Floyd S. Kay CTE Center began. The renovation consisted of stripping out the old building, then completely remodeling and renovating it.
In the remodeled Rockbridge Innovation Center, there will be a completely new and refreshing learning environment to benefit students. CTE shop classes will have more resources at their disposal for instructing students.
For the past school year while the renovation has taken place, CTE teachers have been moved around and placed in different classrooms.
Classes like Auto Body, Auto Tech, Manufacturing, and Building Trades have held lectures outside in big white tents, that were subject to extreme weather like snow which collapsed them during winter and heat which was brutal in the early months of the school year. Agriculture and small animal care classrooms are dispersed in empty rooms upstairs. Robotics, Nurse Aid, and Engineering are all still in the T hallway. Day to day life for CTE teachers is far different than what it used to be before the renovation began.
Teachers are eager for the Rockbridge Innovation Center to be completed around Christmas break. The need for a bigger space is growing for CTE teachers, as many are confined in a smaller classroom than usual.
Manufacturing systems teacher Colter Bennett looks forward to the overall space and resources he will have after the renovation is complete.
“Instead of one manufacturing lab, we will have two, and a lot of new CNC (Computerized numerically controlled) equipment, as well as new tabletops and a whole new space that allows us to expand our program on what we’re doing,” said Bennett.
Mr. Bennett will have space for newer and larger printers in his new classroom. This will allow his classes to not only use wood and metal when dealing with graphic communication systems, but to also manipulate various other types of materials.
FFA Advisor and Agricultural Applications teacher Gwendolyn Gosney anticipates having new resources to make class projects and labs easier.
“We will have new coolers for the flowers to be held in for the coming prom, then for other special occasions that we’ll be doing flowers for. We will also have a new greenhouse for the students,” said Gosney.
Having these coolers will make storing corsages and boutonnieres easier, because in previous years, FFA members were only able to use two refrigerators. In the future, this could potentially encourage more fundraisers and events.
All CTE teachers will benefit with a refurbished and renewed classroom setting when the renovation is complete, promoting a healthy new environment for teachers.
“I think giving more space, and changing the layout of our space, will really excite students and give them the opportunity to change the way they make things work,” said Bennett.
Providing just overall new surroundings for teachers and students will fuel motivation to learn in classrooms. Students will be excited to have a new section of the building to explore and get to know.
The new Rockbridge Innovation Center will optimistically be completed around Christmas break, and teachers will begin to move their things. This may be a long and stressful process to endure, but ultimately the benefits that await will outweigh the hardships.
