Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. George Norris addressed approximately two dozen school officials and community stakeholders during the dedication of Fairview Heights Elementary Media Center Friday.
The Fairview Heights Media Center was dedicated during a Friday afternoon ceremony which saw Richmond County Board of Education members, Richmond County Schools central office administrators and school officials step to the podium and offer their thoughts on the facility.
“On behalf of the Richmond County Board of Education, our teachers, staff and administrators, we dedicate the Fairview Heights Media Center to the children of this community,” RCS Superintendent Dr. George Norris said to the approximately two dozen individuals present for the ceremony. “It is our hope and intention that this facility will be used to enhance the level of learning of the children of Richmond County for generations to come.”
The media center first opened in February of 2009.
“This is a state-of-the-art facility,” Fairview Heights Media Specialist Shanda Roberson told the Daily Journal when it opened. “
Friday, Norris agreed the facility is state of the art, and said it should last for quite awhile.
“This building will be here for a long time, and I think we’ll be proud of this building for a very long time in the community,” Norris said at the ceremony.
He said the school system is searching for opportunities to expand its media centers, and they will play heavily into the summer reading enrichment program being planned for this summer.
Others to take the podium at the ceremony included Board of Education Chairman Kenneth Goodman and members Bruce Stanback and Ed Ormsby, Stogner Architecture Owner Wayne Stogner, Southern Builders owner G.R. Kindley and Fairview Principal Keith McKenzie and former Principal Earl Yates.
First, Stanback recalled a needs assessment conducted by the school board before the county bond referendum was passed in 2005.
“One of the things we were looking at with that assessment was to see what were the really pressing needs we had,” he said. “This project was identified as one of those pressing needs that would enhance learning for students here at Fairview Heights School.”
“Something like this is so important to the educational experience of the people who come here,” Goodman told the audience. “... The citizens of Richmond County committed an act of faith when they voted to approve the bond package, and these projects ... are going to be so important to the educational future of the county.”
Goodman pondered the reward for county taxpayers who don’t have a child in school.
“Our reward will be found in the knowledge that is gained here,” Goodman said.
“It will be found in the doors that are opened here, and it will be found in the satisfaction of knowing that we played a small part in improving the lives of so many young people and knowing that their future will be brighter because of it.”
Principal Keith McKenzie said that when he arrived at Fairview three years ago, the library was an immediate concern. It was about the size of a classroom, and the computer lab was on the stage of the school’s auditorium.
“What y’all have done here is to open up the world to these students,” McKenzie said. “They are not only going to be competitive here in Richmond County, they are going to be competitive nationally and across the world. Global learning is what education has become, and ... this facility is going to produce global learners.”
Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.
Post a Comment
