Ribbon-cutting ceremony planned to showcase updated middle school

Architects designed the space to suit various uses.
& lt;a href=mailto:kubik@vindy.com & gt;By MARALINE KUBIK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the newly renovated Struthers Middle School will take place at 9 a.m. Monday.
The school opened with the start of classes in September after completion of a 7,000-square-foot addition and renovations throughout the rest of the building.
Struthers Middle School, 800 Fifth St., was built in 1929 and received additions in 1950 and 1992.
The most recent addition-renovation project, begun in 2002, made way for a new cafeteria-band room, new art-choir room and three new technology labs.
The project was included in the district's more than $30 million in state and local funding for school building replacement and repairs.
The technology labs allow pupils to explore various careers and provides for a seamless transition into the technology curriculums offered at the high school, explained Dr. Sandi DiBacco, superintendent.
Middle school pupils are introduced to the technology program in grade five with a nine-week course that covers five areas -- communications, transportation, construction, manufacturing and bio-related information.
Pupils work in each of the areas for five to seven days.
Other classes
Sixth-graders work through six technology modules -- computer problem solving, electronics, flight simulation, space and rocketry, virtual reality and exploring mechanisms.
Pupils in grades seven and eight also work through modules.
Seventh-graders explore things such as animation, electronic music, computer software applications, applied physics and three-dimensional design and construction.
Eighth-graders explore aerodynamics, automation and robotics, radio broadcasting and plastics.
Pupils work in pairs or small groups at computer stations in the technology labs, DiBacco said, and teachers act as facilitators, guiding pupils through the programs and monitoring their progress.
After completing the middle school technology program, pupils follow one of two tracks offered at the high school: information technology or manufacturing technology.
In addition to the technology labs, the middle school has three undesignated computer labs, a Macintosh lab that is used for keyboarding courses, and five new Dell computers in each classroom.
Each grade has its own wing and most space is used all day, DiBacco said.
"We had to find different ways to best utilize space," she said, so the cafeteria becomes the band room when meals aren't being served and the art room alternates as a choir room.
How this was done
Architects designed the space to suit various uses by incorporating elements unique to each purpose.
For example, the white and red tile floor in the cafeteria incorporates a half-circle design that allows for easy set-up of chairs in the traditional formation for band practice.
Chairs are merely placed along the curving rows of red tile, DiBacco pointed out.
A band director's office was included at the rear of the cafeteria and can be closed off with a floor-to-ceiling room divider. Instrument storage lockers are available in a small room adjoining the rear of the cafeteria.
The 696-seat auditorium is used for a variety of programs, including concerts and high school plays. "We don't have an auditorium at the high school," DiBacco noted.
During the renovation, new lighting and carpeting were installed in the auditorium and improvements were made to the sound system.
A new heating and ventilating system also was installed throughout the building, DiBacco said.
Some 650 pupils in grades five through eight attend the middle school.
& lt;a href=mailto:kubik@vindy.com & gt;kubik@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;