Less than one year ago, Spectrum schools began construction on a brand new building to host our athletic center, weight room, and our 6th-grade department. While construction continues on the athletic center, the upstairs is completed, and our 6th graders have moved in. 

Mr. Steensland, the 6th-grade Social Studies teacher, said, “It’s fun to see them putting the building together. Ya know, going back to last year, looking out the window in the old building and seeing all of the change. And kind of get little bits and pieces of all the work that they’ve been doing”

The Literature teacher for the 6th graders, Mrs. O’Brien said, “It’s definitely exciting to get into the new building, but there’s been delays with the furniture arriving, and just getting the kids ready for the new school year without everything was a little bit challenging, but they’ve been very flexible.”

From watching the building get built from the ground up to moving in and setting up classrooms, the 6th-grade department has experienced a sequence of change over the last year. The 6th-grade teachers seem to be looking to the future with positivity and focusing on the good.

Mrs. O’Brien said, “I’m just excited to see how this new schedule plays out, too, with having a little shorter class periods. That’s been great for the attention span of 6th graders versus the 90-minute classes, but just seeing all the different changes that all kind of clicks and comes together that will be exciting to see.”

Mrs. Batts, the 6th-grade science teacher, said, “Well, it’s quite the adventure, it’s all good because at the end when it’s all finished, it will be beautiful.”

Mr. Steensland said, “I think my favorite part of the switch over here is, what’s nice is we still have our space. I think that’s the biggest thing that spectrum does a great job of is for 6th grade, giving them their own space. But we also have a little bit of closer proximity to the other middle school teachers, so it gives a little bit more chance to connect with some teachers that we normally wouldn’t get to connect with.”

The 6th graders will continue to adjust to a new building and new schedule as the rest of the building is completed.