Building future

& lt;a href=mailto:viviano@vindy.com & gt;By JoANNE VIVIANO & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown City Schools pupils stood shivering with rosy cheeks Wednesday during the groundbreaking ceremony for a $23 million addition to Chaney High School.
But the wind that chilled the 50-degree weather didn't dampen their enthusiasm, as many charged at the chance to chuck a shovel of dirt.
"It's significant of a new beginning, of Chaney students starting over," said Chaney sophomore Kayla Griffin. "And we're here to celebrate it, and we're here to be a part of it."
Senior class president Andrea Burton turned some soil even though she won't be a student when the addition is complete in fall 2005.
"I just want ... to continue the Cowboy tradition," she said. "If you improve the school, you improve the standards of the children and how excited they are to come to school and to learn.
"When you build something new, you don't just create a new building, you create the Youngstown schools' model: a beacon of hope for future students and leaders."
For smiling freshman Tiffany Lewis, it was simple: "I want to flip the dirt ... to represent Chaney High."
"Learn it, live it and love it," added sophomore Cestwaila Beck.
The addition
The addition to the West Side high school will bring its size to about 208,000 square feet and include technology labs, a two-level media center, a gymnasium and locker rooms, a 400-car parking lot and new courtyard spaces.
It is part of the $182 million school facilities improvement plan that includes six new buildings and renovations and additions to 10 others. Funding comes 80 percent from the Ohio School Facilities Commission and 20 percent through a local tax issue. (See details on each project at www.youngstownschools.com.)
It was hard to figure out who was most elated Wednesday: the couple of hundred students gathered in red and gray jerseys, jackets and sweaters, or Principal Bob Spencer.
"We're so excited," Spencer said, just before he grabbed a shovel and gray hard hat to place in a school display case.
The event featured representatives of the high school student council, athletic teams, cheerleading squad and flag line. The high school band played and the chorale sang "How Can I Keep From Singing?" The upperclassmen were joined by several pupils from Volney Rogers Junior High School, who will attend the renovated Chaney.
'Winds of change'
Also on hand was Gary Kasper, an OSFC project administrator. He told students that his car was jostled on the Ohio Turnpike as he drove to the event. "How appropriate, how symbolic, that the winds are blowing on this beautiful morning," he said. "The winds of change are blowing."
School board member John Maluso, a former city schools teacher and Chaney principal, said this is the third Chaney groundbreaking he's attended: The first was in the 1950s when the current Chaney building was constructed; the second was in the late 1960s when a 14-classroom addition was built.
"They all get greater, and they all signify more hope each year," he told the pupils. "Enjoy it, love it, and go Cowboys."
Parents also joined the event, including the Rev. Phillip Imler.
"We're tremendously excited and proud as parents ... about the new spirit of cooperation and enthusiasm we have experienced in being involved in the education of all the children of Youngstown," he said.
& lt;a href=mailto:viviano@vindy.com & gt;viviano@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;