Students ponder Eugene Field’s needs

Eugene Field Elementary School fifth graders took a good, hard look at their building and came up with several requests — but not for a new school.

The school’s fifth graders told city, county and school officials at a joint meeting last Wednesday they had researched the condition of the school to fulfill a project-based learning initiative. The students said the building, at 720 S. Tremont Ave., Ottawa, was deteriorating and several major repairs and additions needed to be made.

However, the students said the school should be repaired, not replaced.

Students named mold and cracks as top repair concerns. They said a new gym and a larger main office were spatial priorities.

Kathy Brooks, the facilitator of the school’s research grant and the initiative, suggested the real-world project after the school’s heater broke last spring. The 40 fifth graders were then divided into eight groups. Each group was responsible for a subproject including a brochure, a podcast and a radio presentation.

The students compared Eugene Field to Garfield Elementary School, which was recently renovated, and Lincoln Elementary School, which was recently built. They took measurements of the open space near Eugene Field and interviewed Eugene Field faculty before making their decision.

Katie Webber, who edited a newspaper article for the project, said she did not want a new school because she liked the building’s exterior.

“A new school would be nice, but I like this place,” Webber said.

Webber said the school needed a new gym, though. Currently, the school has a combined gymnasium and cafeteria. The already-tight schedule has made it difficult for the school to plan assemblies and have meetings in the room.

The school district recently bought two houses next to Eugene Field on the corner of Seventh and Tremont streets with the intention of demolishing them to build an addition to the school or a new parking lot.

Regan Tipton, who wrote the script for the podcast, said the school needed a larger main office. She said she thought the school should be repaired as well.

“I like how it’s old-fashioned and all the other schools are so new looking,” she said.

Jordan NeSmith, who recorded and edited the video, recommended renovation because he thought a new school would be too expensive.

Brooks said she did not include the financial aspect in the project because she thought the issue was too advanced for the students. However, she said she had found in her research that it might be cheaper to replace Eugene Field.

Josh Robinson, school principal, said the school board did not yet know how much it would cost to renovate or replace the building.

Brooks said she would try to implement a fifth-grade project next school year but it would depend on the amount of classroom time teachers had to donate to the project.