Bethel School students, faculty, administrators, community leaders, parents, and community supporters stood in 50-degree temperatures with wind gusts at 30 mph to celebrate the ground breaking for the new school addition at 1:00 p.m. on April 23.
School Board President, Joseph Solch opened the ceremony. He said, “This is an exciting day for Bethel School. Almost 100 years ago today, the community celebrated the groundbreaking for a portion of Bethel Schools that is still in use today. This ceremony is symbolic of this community’s support for the school. I want to thank the teachers, staff, community members, and the administrators for all of the work they put in to make this happen.”
Solch’s welcome was followed by a crowd-silencing rendition of the National Anthem performed by the Bethel High School Boys Quartet singing A cappella. Pastor Irvin Heishman, Interim Pastor at West Charleston Church of the Brethren gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance
The Bethel Elementary 5th Grade Choir sang in A cappella a rendition of “What a Wonderful World” by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss.
Virginia Potter, Superintendent of Bethel Schools, initiated the speaking portion of the ceremony. She said, “This new high school addition is the first addition of academic space since 1969. I wanted the students and faculty to be a part of this celebration. We are building a high school of which you can be proud.” She thanked all the individuals who were able to make the building project a reality including the Bethel Board of Education Members - Joseph Solch, Michael van Haaren, Scott Hawthorn, Scott Lawson, Brian Moore and the school treasurer Karen Newman. In addition, she acknowledged the business partners who contributed to the planning of the new facility including Joe Harkleroad, Project Coordinator, Mike Ruetschle and Mike Huff, Architects and Suzanne Whisman, Charlie Jergens, and Mary Runyon, Project Development Crew. Next, she acknowledged the administrators, Craig Vasil, Jr./Sr. High School Principal, Alexis Dedrick, Assistant Principal K-12, and Jodi Petty, Elementary Principal. She also thanked the student leadership who helped during the plan development including Kaitlyn Parker, Student Council President, Jacob Artz, Sr. Class President, Morgan Koger, Jr. Class President, Tae Elliott, Jr. High Representative, and Warren Landes, Elementary Representative, She also said, “We could not have done this without our community representatives including Jerry Hirt, Gary Biggs, and Beth van Haaren, Bethel Township Board of Trustees, Carl Bowman, Community Member, Andy Ehrhart, Township Administrator, Larry Smith, Former Bethel School Superintend and Carolyn Wright and Lori Sebastian, who led the campaign for the building levy.
In addition, Potter introduced each of the speakers. First, Ruetschle of Ruetschle Architects warmed up the crowd by telling them about all the good things that were going to be happening over the next two years. He said, “We are going to add a turn lane on SR 201 and create a student drop-off to increase student safety. We are adding a loop road around the building and a new parking lot. In addition, we are adding 22 new classrooms including two new science labs and a cafetorium that will seat 500 students. We expect to complete the project the summer of 2017. This is super exciting.”
Next, Hirt who has lived in the community since 1955, said, “This new building represents the future of our township. I want to thank everybody who helped. This school symbolically represents our commitment to good schools and to the quality of our community. First, the school is the glue that holds our township together. The school is the center of activity that brings us together. What draws people to a community are good schools. Good schools make Bethel a desirable community.” He went on to reminisce about the school when he first entered its doorway in 1955. “We didn’t have either of the larger gyms. We only had the elementary gym, or what we referred to as the dungeon. My parents moved to Bethel because of the school. I moved back to Bethel because of the school. I am a proud graduate of Bethel School. I am the proud parent of a child who graduated from Bethel. I am the proud grandparent of grandchildren who have or will graduate from Bethel. Nothing more needs to be said except this is for the students.”
Bowman, who spent 22 years as a member on the Board of Education, added, “ I am looking forward to the new facility. A building doesn’t make you smarter but is gives you the tools to facilitate learning. You need a vision to succeed and the school can give you the tools to develop that passion for learning.
Potter then introduced Smith by saying, “Dr. Smith was responsible for making the bond issue happen.” Smith added, “We had to work around a lot of road blocks, but this school is going to benefit many generations to come.”
After the speakers were finished, each of the representative groups symbolically dug into the ground to begin the construction project.
To close the ceremony, the entire student body created an outline of the new footprint of the new facility. It awed the crowd to witness what the community has been able to do to ensure that the next few generations of Bethel Township students will be able to embrace the passion that so many current Bethel residents have experienced through attending Bethel Schools.
