McCoy shows off $10M upgrade

By Mo Cranker on March 2, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

It was a big day for students at Monsignor McCoy High School, as they witnessed the unveil more than $10-million in renovations.

Hundreds of students, parents, teachers, coaches, alumni and members of the community gathered at the new gymnasium to listen to speakers, say a prayer, sing and take some tours of the school’s new inside.

“The whole building, wall-to-wall, has been touched in some way,” said principal Paul Bauche. “In classrooms, the heating, security systems and fire systems have been touched. Some of the more significant things are the common space we have here at the front of the school. We’ve got the learning commons, the food server, the fitness area, the gymnasium — there’s just so many spaces in the school that have been upgraded in a really good way.”

The modernization project has been in the works for more than four years, and was largely funded by the provincial government, with community donations accounting for a small, yet significant amount required to make sure every part of the school was upgraded. Bauche says the renovations will allow students to better manage their education.

“The design is all about flexibility and having students drive their own education,” said Bauche. “If you look at something like the new common space, it shows that the students have a place to get their work done and to do it effectively.

“If you don’t give them enough room to open up their books and collaborate, they can’t work effectively.

“There’s also the community building part of it. The kids want to come together, but when you don’t have a large space like this, they kind of filter out a bit — so building that strong, positive learning community was really important to us when planning this all out.”

Another exciting part of the renovations is the new fitness area, which brings the gyms, weight room and change rooms all to the same area of the school, says Bauche.

“Sports and athletics are important to every school,” he said. “We have a long tradition of being very successful in athletics, so that was very important to us when laying things out.

“We’ve got our fitness area connected to the auxiliary gym, and that’s beside our main gym now — and it allows for that one main area where students can go and they can learn, work and grow together.

“We were also able to move our phys-ed teachers and changerooms there, and just get everything in that area. It all just makes sense for 2018, where our school is at today.”

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