Science teachers are buzzing with excitement at Warren Township High School District 121′s O’Plaine campus after learning their school received an $11.53 million state grant that will be used to construct a new 3-story science wing.
“This is a highlight for the school,” said Jason Caswick, lead science teacher at the O’Plaine campus.
The campus at 500 N. O’Plaine Road in Gurnee houses freshmen and sophomores. The new wing will be on the north end of the building.
Instead of sitting at desks with lab materials for various classes, students will now have separate learning rooms and laboratories, Caswick said. Plus they will have a resource room with computers where they can do their science homework during study halls.
The rooms and equipment are from the 1960s, he said.
“The new wing will better simulate a college environment, which is what we want,” he added.
More than $623 million in grants were awarded on Feb. 16 to schools in Illinois under the Illinois Jobs Now program. Capital funding will be used to construct new buildings, expand, repair or update existing ones.
“We’re hoping to break ground this summer and complete it in the fall of 2013,” said Warren Township High School Superintendent Philip Sobocinski. The school applied for the grant nine years ago, he said.
To be considered for the grant, the district had to show monetary support from the community, he said. The community did so twice.
In 2004, voters approved a $15.5 million bond referendum, and in 2008, voters approved a $30 million bond referendum. The funds were used to add a sprinkler system and air-conditioning to the O’Plaine campus building, as well as expand the library and student services department.
“The reason we were able to receive this state grant is because the community supported us,” Sobocinski said.
The O’Plaine campus needs a new science wing because the small rooms built in the 1960s aren’t sufficient to teach 21st century science, he said.
The other campus at 34090 Almond Road, Gurnee, houses juniors and seniors. The science rooms there are much more up-to-date compared with those at the O’Plaine campus, Sobocinski said.
