October 13, 2009

Mosier residents mull middle school

By Sam Craig
The Chronicle

     The closest most kids get to being architects is putting together the Lego sets they got for Christmas, but students at Mosier Community School are getting a chance to help create a new building they may one day be learning in.
     MCS is looking to add seventh and eighth grades to their kindergarten through sixth grade campus. The idea is in its first stage. The school currently has no contractors, no definite site chosen for building and it still needs approval by North Wasco County School District. Their first step in the process of getting the project off the ground will be to ask the state for grant money to do a feasibility study to see if it’s even possible to build a new school.
     Before doing anything, however, Mosier Community School wanted input.
     To get ideas for the new Mosier Middle School, they’ve been looking for advice from all over. Mosier Community students, residents of Mosier and architecture students from the University of Oregon have all offered ideas of their vision for the future of MCS, and on Oct. 3, they all came together to share their ideas.
     Artistic, odd and inspired ideas flowed during the community meeting at MCS on Saturday:
     • rooms in any shape but square,
     • hot tubs to relax in after a particularly difficult math lesson.
     • new library that the whole community can use.
     As quickly as participants could say what they thought, their ideas were marked up on the requisite sheet of brainstorming butcher paper.
     The small cafeteria of MCS was filled to capacity, as attendees of the meeting enjoyed a freshly prepared lunch before hearing a few brief speeches, then dove straight into the planning process.
     The crowd splintered into three groups, each with several architecture students. One stayed in the cafeteria, one went to the teacher’s lounge and one headed to the gym, all set to toss around ideas for the new middle school.
     A big goal of the community meeting was to give the U of O architecture students an idea of what was important to residents of Mosier. Creating blueprints for a new school is their class project. As future architects, the skills they learn and the skills they impart, it’s hoped, will benefit both them and Mosier Community School.
     U of O students haven’t laid pen to sketchpad yet, but MCS students certainly have been busy. Their plans range from practical upgrades of everyday school necessities to fixtures opulent enough for a French château. And, while a spa in every classroom probably won’t be the highest priority for the new school, some ideas, like lockers that aren’t big enough for students to be stuffed inside, could get serious consideration.
     Students do want to make sure there’s delineation between the two schools. They want separate schools with separate mascots. School administrators plan to have a separate — though very similar — charter for the Mosier Middle School. It will be a Mosier school, but it won’t be a part of the original.
     “It’s very clear that the seventh and eighth graders have their own realm,” said Jenny Young, University of Oregon architecture professor, while discussing student ideas. “That was one of the things that came out for the seventh and eighth grade; they would like to have their own space and a place to hang out.”
     Student ideas were much more lively than most modern school buildings. Like 5- to 12-year-old Frank Lloyd Wrights, Mosier students weren’t tethered by the tenets of contemporary architecture.
     “There were some general things that they liked,” said Carole Schmidt, principal of Mosier Community School. “They liked odd-shaped rooms, they don’t like boxes. They like colorful rooms. They want areas to hang out in, for three reasons: one to learn, one to hang out and one to read in.”
     Of course, children have vivid imaginations, but some believed that their creative designs and lofty layouts were more than just daydreams.
     “You need to pay attention to what these students are telling you, because they’re telling you what their life is like,” said Dr. Susan Wolff, chief academic officer at Columbia Gorge Community College. “The design of the space and what goes on in the space really needs to feed their souls, their intellects, their spirits at this particular time.”
     Also in attendance was Oregon State Rep. John Huffman, who was glad to see students given a voice. He believes that by giving them a say in what their surroundings are going to be, they might just have a better chance of succeeding in those surroundings.
     “We’re losing kids,” Huffman said. “They kind of check out after the sixth grade, so by letting them plan the middle school like this and having so much student involvement, this could be a great experiment. Maybe we’ll see less of that checking out.”
     Mosier hopes the new middle school will soon be able to get off the ground. In 2010, the school hopes to host its first seventh grade class in the existing building. The following year, they’d like to add eighth grade and hopefully be able to open the new building, but there are still many hills to climb. One thing is for certain: The school wants the new facility to reflect the community, the student body and the surrounding area.
     By making the community happy, they hope, things will work out pretty well for the new school.
     “The thing about Mosier is that we need the support of the community,” Schmidt said. “And the community needs us; because that makes the community itself more valuable and more viable.”