Volunteers pitch in to refurbish rooms at Jackson-Milton High School

NORTH JACKSON -- Seventeen rooms in Jackson-Milton High School are getting a face-lift, rooms that will be used by sixth- through eighth-graders beginning in September.
Work is under way toward converting a section of the high school into a middle school. About five of the rooms are nearly finished, thanks to about 100 people from the community who have volunteered by painting, varnishing, sanding and performing other labor, Superintendent Buck Palmer said at Thursday's school board meeting. Of the 17 rooms, 12 will be used as traditional classrooms, and the new middle school also will have two offices, a teachers lounge, a computer room and an in-school suspension room, Palmer added.
About $125,000 of permanent improvement money is being used to fund the renovation project and pay for supplies. Other work that has yet to be done includes sanding the rooms' hardwood floors, painting the hallways and adding new sinks to the three restrooms. New signs, carpeting, window blinds and other products have been ordered, and work should be finished around mid-August, Palmer predicted.
"Everything's moving along and things are falling into place," Palmer said.