Whether it was getting out of school early, the grand opening of the new section of the school, or just the sound of the plasma cutter, it is safe to say that South High was buzzing on Tuesday, October 18.

The grand opening of the Advanced Technology Center of the school and the new location of the main office kicked off at 5 p.m. on Tuesday when SASD Superintendent Dr. Joe Sheehan cut through a metal “ribbon” with a plasma cutter. This was followed by a social in the commons that featured many different types of food provided by the culinary department and even Sprecher root beer on tap. Lastly, speeches were given by all of the key leaders and investors of the new addition to the school which included Principal Mike Trimberger, Superintendent Joe Sheehan, Kohler Vice President of Supply Chain and Operations Support Steve Cassady, Johnsonville President Michael Stayer-Suprick, Pamela Langan of the Muth Family, and Board of Education President Marcia Reinthaler.

Trimberger was the first to speak, and explained about how the idea to add the new section to the school came from one simple question asked to businesses in the area: “What skills would you want your future employees to learn in high school?” Trimberger also went on to explain that the labs before the addition were “outdated” and “no longer supported the skills needed in current manufacturing.” One of the final points that Trimberger made was that he refused to call the groups that supported the project anything other than “partners” because “it is a partnership created with all parties having equal voice to create mutual benefit.”

The next person up to speak was Sheehan. Sheehan emphasized his thanks to all of the businesses who supported the district in funding for the new additions to both North and South.  He also explained how the process of raising money for the additions went and how almost all of the businesses were quick to simply double their previous donations when the federal government denied the grant to the school district, not once, but twice. When asked what the biggest benefit of the new addition of the school would be, Sheehan said,

“The idea of ‘try it.’ We offer lots of different programs for kids. Try it. If you like it, go into that. If not, try something else.”

Just because the new section of the school is focused on engineering does not mean it is only for people who are going into engineering. Technology Education teacher Mr. Gary Scheller said he looks forward to allowing other departments to use the new addition and is hoping to collaborate with other classes,

“There’s really no end to what you can do.”

Now that the Advanced Technology Center is completed, students can expect there to be much more action in that area of the school even though the move-in date for the new main office is still unknown (and is not to be expected for a while). It is definitely easy to see that both the school and the community are willing to invest in its students as much as possible. Now it is up to the students to make their investment a good one.