The district’s new Learning Design Team seeks to build modern, efficient classrooms in the high school to ensure a more advanced and flexible environment for students.

From new furniture to the latest technology, the Learning Design Team (LDT) aims to make lessons more interactive.

The plan’s prospects are exciting and are a major step for the school. Ninth grade civics teacher Mike Nordean teaches in the first class to receive a makeover during Presidents Day weekend.

Nordean’s built-in full wall and his teaching experience make his classroom the perfect candidate to test out new materials and ideas.

The school made the right decision in starting small with an individual classroom, but in the future, the LDT should target major spaces in the building.

Places like the Library Media Center, At-Large Lab and Learning Lab are accessible to a wider population of students than stand-alone classrooms. The greater student engagement in these areas makes them better candidates to reach as many students as possible with new technology.

Remodeling the high school is a big process and students should be curious to see where this plan will go beyond Nordean’s classroom. We hope the school will have Nordean and his students evaluate the new learning environment after a period of time to judge its effectiveness before continuing with other projects.

Additionally, taxpayer dollars are needed to make this project a reality. Every so often voters must re-approve the School Board’s budget and next year’s ballot may ask for additional money for a redesign of the school and other facilities in the district. Within reason, these tax increases are necessary to ensure the continued quality of education.

We are curious to see how productive the redesign of the school environment is in affecting students’ learning. The district should evaluate progress within the year. Students should be hopeful that development in the classroom can grow into a change throughout the school.