South Central Schools Superintendent Ben Anderson and Darrell Marks, energy services specialist at Kankakee Valley REMC, in the new Student Activity Center. The facility hosted multiple events, including an employee health clinic and blood drive, in the first few months it opened.
Last summer, South Central High School students buzzed in and out of the school’s busiest building – which technically hadn’t opened yet.
The students were not even taking a class – though the administration relished how things were going.
The South Central School Corp.’s new Student Activity Center was built as part of a construction project that created needed spaces and classrooms for students at the kindergarten to 12th grade school complex in Union Mills, Indiana. Kankakee Valley REMC and Wabash Valley Power Alliance provided support that includes $17,841.25 in Power Moves® rebates for energy efficiency upgrades lowering long-term energy costs. The student center was completed last May; just a few weeks later, the football team and cheerleaders began using the facility for practice and conditioning.
The renovated media center in the South Central School Corp. building. The renovation also included several new classrooms to better serve students in the K-12 school complex.
“The need for that space was significant. It’s been great,” South Central School Corp. Superintendent Ben Anderson said, noting that student groups routinely booked the school’s three gyms for activities and meetings for hours each day before and after school. “We intentionally called it the Student Activity Center. We want people to know that it’s used for more than athletics.”
The activity center is a standalone building next to the K-12 school complex and football field. The center features bays to host indoor and outdoor activities, as well as nets for baseball and softball batting practice. In the first few months of the school year, the facility hosted blood drives, a health care clinic for school employees, and meetings for 4-H and Future Farmers of America student groups.
“My oldest daughter is in FFA and my youngest daughter is in cheer,” said Darrell Marks, energy services specialist at Kankakee Valley REMC. “They’ve both used the Student Activity Center a lot.”
A closeup of a shelf in the renovated South Central School Corp. media center. Kankakee Valley REMC and Wabash Valley Power Alliance provided support including Power Moves rebates for the renovations.
Marks worked with school corporation officials to ensure upgrades qualified for Power Moves rebates. The renovation featured LED lighting and occupancy sensors throughout the activity center and school. South Central renovated several spaces, including a larger special education classroom and an updated media center.
“The addition of five classrooms gave us quite a bit of breathing room,” Anderson said of the project. “Enrollment is steady, which in this day and age is a good thing. Most schools are losing enrollment.”
Kankakee Valley REMC and the South Central School Corp. have a strong relationship. Several district students sit on the co-op’s junior board of directors, and the school has received several Operation Round Up grants over the years.
South Central School Corp. Superintendent Ben Anderson looks at team photos on the wall entering the district’s new Student Activity Center. The facility was constructed as part of a renovation that received more than $14,800 in Power Moves energy efficient rebates from Kankakee Valley REMC and Wabash Valley Power Alliance.
“The nice thing is we have such a good relationship with them,” Anderson said. “We work in collaboration with the co-op quite a bit, and Darrell is a familiar face around here. The project just naturally progressed because of our standing relationship.”
Kankakee Valley REMC employees have discussed possible future projects with the school corporation. School officials have considered upgrading the football field lights to LEDs, as well as other possible energy projects.
“The South Central School Corp. is a valuable partner critical to the success of our community,” said Scott Sears, CEO of Kankakee Valley REMC. “We are proud to have partnered with the school corporation on the project and are pleased that students, educators, and coaches have the support and spaces they need to thrive.”