After the ribbon was cut and the applause was over, the doors were opened for everyone to enter into the new high school. With the snap of a finger, the crowd dispersed and in a flurry we were inside the front entrance and in the middle of 3 floors where a Reception was waiting. Right away we saw to the left the new administrative offices and reception area. The wide hallway has curved ottoman type furniture, and to the right was the huge new Library and Media center already full of books. Past the offices on the corner was a see-through room called the Career Center with comfortable-looking cushioned chairs and a small table attached for laptops.
As we rounded the corner, the building opened up with a Welcome 
Reception where area businesses offered food samples, as well as, groups like the Parent/Teacher Organization looking for support from new students and their parents. To the left was a Food Court like set-up with round and long tables, even Bistro seating with the high tables and stools in place of a traditional cafeteria. A new concept will be Food Bars with all different types of things to eat such as a Southwest, Asian, and Vegetarian Bar, and Hungry Howie’s Pizza will also be on hand for the student’s lunches. It is very modern looking and students will have wireless access there as well.
As part of the celebration, current students offered tours for the crowd during this time and I took the opening as a chance to talk with some 
parents, one being Mrs. Priya Dass, whose son Amaal – a senior, was thrilled with the bigger facility. She stated that this gave more opportunities, but the teachers also have more responsibility, and wisely talked about, “how well they embrace this will determine how well the students will do because a teacher doesn’t just open books, they open minds”! How right she is. Another parent, Mrs. Amy Willis, whose daughter Cole, the Sophomore Class Student Body Vice-President, believes that the “new Laptops for each student will help bring more technological advancement”.
Moving on down past the cafeteria area, we toured the smaller gym, an 
elevator, and more of the 2nd floor, including rooms that house Band, Chorus, and Drama. The new extensive Auditorium is there as well, seating over twice as many people as the old one.
In the shape of a “W”, the middle of the 2nd floor wing extension is home to the new Cosmetology department. When we walked in, I was floored at the equipment that our students will have in their new learning environment. I met the teacher, Ms. Tanya Huyard, who spoke proudly about the opportunities this will give her students. She showed me areas for learning hair cutting techniques, hair drying and nail/manicure stations, and tables for massages, facials, and esthetics.
Continuing on our tour, the 3rd floor houses mainly the academic classrooms with the Science Labs, Math, History, English, and Foreign Languages, etc. Mr. Russ Minatel, an English, Speech and Debate teacher 
allowed me to ask his thoughts on this upcoming year. He gladly spoke about how exciting his career as a teacher is, and that “with each student having a Laptop allows for equal footing of technology, not just for the affluent students, which helps to bring ownership to the school”. He spoke about the exciting capability of using Skype programs to talk with people all over the world in real time, and referred to training that he recently went through to help him learn about teaching the “YouTube” generation focusing on Media Literacy Education. This has become what he feels is one of his biggest responsibilities.
Completing our tour, we went to the 1st floor, opting to take the new elevator, where there seemed to be a restroom everywhere we went…which is a good thing. In all, there are 32 restrooms throughout the vast building.
To me, the bottom floor is the most impressive as we saw rooms being readied for students. This floor holds the Arts room, where teacher Mr. Shelton Wilder was playing the Beatles and so enthusiastic about this upcoming year and what the future holds. He talked about how great the lighting was for optimal creativity to be expressed.
We moved on to other rooms and saw the new Construction, Welding, and Auto Shop classes. All I can say is “Wow”! We walked by one room and my daughter said, “Look Mom, they have dummies in these beds”. I looked and saw that it was the Health Occupations class. How cool is that for on-hands teaching!
Other rooms featured Sports Training with lots of weights and the Faculty 
Workout room with Treadmills and such. One of the last rooms that caught my attention was a room filled with Drafting tables and a Dell Computer box on each table. The teacher, Richard Sands, happened to be there and I asked what kind of class he taught. I recognized the Drafting tables from my Interior Design courses, but I wasn’t sure what all would be going on there. He told me that he teaches Engineering, Drafting, and Architecture and that each student would have a computer loaded with a CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) program on it to help teach them the technology that they need for college. He proceeded to tell me that students would not only get high school credit for his class, but that they would simultaneously receive credit for college as well. Amazing!
With that, our tour was complete within the school, and on our way out, we looked at the beautiful new Athletic fields – Baseball, Softball, Tennis Courts, and Football! They all are awesome, and the school itself is very impressive but somewhat intimidating as well. Did I mention that it is HUGE too!!! A friend made a humorous reference that the students will have to have a GPS just to find there way to class for the first week.
Reading about the new building gives somewhat of a mental picture, but when you get the chance, make sure to head on over and check out Watauga County’s newest addition! It is well worth taking it in for yourself.
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