RUSHFORD — More than 70 years after graduating from Rushford High School, Herb Highum watched his alma mater cut the ribbon on its new school.
The Rushford-Peterson School District celebrated the opening of its new school with a ribbon cutting, ceremony and tours on Saturday.
The parking lot and roads up to the school were filled with cars as the entrance and ramps up to the front doors of the school swelled with anxious and eager community members.
Among them were Highum and his family.
As the oldest member of the design committee for the new school, Highum, 88, said seeing the new school was an unbelievable experience he almost didn’t take part in.
Worried he was too old for the committee, friends encouraged him to step into the role, something that was actually a natural fit for him. Highum also helped the school district with additions in the 1970s and has spent most of his life busy with the school.
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But Highum, who has spent most of his life associated with the school, was having a hard time wrapping his mind around the new building.
“You won’t believe it,” Highum said before the ceremony began. “Seeing is supposed to be believing, and I’ve seen it and I still don’t believe.”
After opening remarks by Superintendent Chuck Ehler, the crowd counted down for board members, teachers, architects, past, present and future students and others to cut the ribbon to the grandiose entrance to the school.
Comprised of stone and large windows, the entrance to the school was soon filled with community members as they made their way into the new gymnasium. Looming ceilings filtered in natural lighting as students, families and locals remarked on the new school, 10 years to the day a flood destroyed their old one.
Below a wrap-around balcony, green, yellow and white bleachers led the way down to the newly polished gym floor, where Ehler, Rushford-Peterson School Board Chair John Linder, Dean Beeninga with ATS&R architecture firm, consultant with ICS Tim Robertson, and Jeff Wieser of Wieser Brothers Construction spoke about the massive undertaking the district — and community — went through during the preparation and 22-month build of the school.
Ehler thanked all parties who were involved with the construction and creation of the building and commented on the collaboration between the school, professionals, other districts and local supporters. Ehler also was thanked by the community with a standing ovation.
Beeninga spoke about how the amount of bricks used in the 170,000-square-foot school would span from the front of the school to La Crosse, while Wieser noted the cement was enough to fill a walkway to Hokah, Minn.
Along with discussing the large quantities of materials and labor — approximately 50 workers per day and never missing a work day, Wieser said — put into the building, everyone thanked volunteers, donors, families, local and state representatives and the community for their support.
“This is your school, and this is your day,” Linder said to the crowd at the ceremony. “You never gave up.”
After the officials’ remarks, community members and families wandered around the school with comments and looks of awe.
Roaming through a stone, wooden and open cafeteria, locals were treated with seeing the new auditorium, elementary school gym and a dance studio, all featuring some element of bringing in a natural connection to the school. Visitors made their way up the stairs to the high school and middle school sections, entering classrooms and soaking up the new learning environments.
The colorful library was abuzz with children climbing over new blue seats and parents engaging with teachers and their children’s new school.
And finally, where the young students will start their Rushford-Peterson education experience, community members walked through the elementary, kindergarten and early childhood education sections of the school, each component featuring a playful, colorful component to learning.
The expansive educational space was years in the making, featuring dedication from Rushford-Peterson residents and supporters — such as Highum.
The Highum family is no stranger to watching the district grow, as Highum said his own children and some grandchildren received an education from the district.
In three years, Highum said he hopes to be able to see his grandson graduate from Rushford-Peterson. It would be a continuation of a family tradition, set in a new school the graduate’s grandfather helped build.