The first story I ever wrote about the Minooka High School district was on coverage of my first board meeting where the school discussed planed to build a new high school. That article ran Aug. 5, 2005, less than a week after I got the job here.
I was sent to cover the board's last "study session" of the summer where officials were brain storming the components of a new high school. At this point the district had three failed referendum attempts.
My first meeting was more than three hours long. (Insert sarcastic voice here.) It was a fantastic way to start out my career with The Herald News.
This was the first of many long meetings I covered while on the Minooka High School beat. But what I was witnessing was history in the making for the school district.
On a personal note, when I took the media tour of the finished school Tuesday, it marked the first project I have covered that has come full circle.
When you walk toward the school from the parking lot the first thing you notice is all the windows, something the architects stressed in the beginning for natural light.
And as I walked through the entrance of the school located in Channahon, the first thought I had was the memory of when the school board discussed the layout of this entrance and how all visitors would be required to enter the building through the principal's office for safety reasons.
The first room our tour group entered was the cafeteria and immediatley the scent of new floors and paint filled our noses. Officials decided to keep the use of round tables, as they have at the original school's cafeteria, but this caferteria will hold 600 tables.
And the hallways, they are huge! Students will no longer be rubbing elbows to get to class. In fact I think two cars could drive side-by-side down the halls.
My most recent story on the new school ran Tuesday. Although this will not be the last I write about the new school, it is exciting to write the "finished project" story.
I of course have written many stories about grand opennings and ribbon cuttings, but never have I written one where I could say I was there when the planning began.
Freelance writer Kris Stadalsky will give you all a more detailed account of the school in tomorrow's Southwest Weekly. This is not posted yet, but I will update this blog with the link tomorrow. Also stay tuned to our Web site for numerous pictures of the new school.
Mallory Medved is an assistant managing editor of weekly publications for
the Sun-Times News Group. She helps cover the Lincoln-Way area and towns
southwest of Joliet. Being naturally nosy has led her to a career in
journalism and fulfilled her dream of getting paid to read. Being a new
homeowner and a future bride, she's also perpetually broke, but enjoys
hearing about other people in the same situation. She lives in Plainfield
but is a native of New Lenox.
Christina Chapman is a Will County resident who desperately wants to live in Grundy County. But since she lost that battle with her boyfriend when they bought a house, she makes due covering Grundy County news for The Herald News in Joliet. When not covering municipal meetings, school events and finding the truth behind the latest coffee talk, she is trying to balance life as a young home owner who is fighting the stereotype that she is living in sin because she is not yet married. She hopes to share with you her perspective on life and the news in hopes that you’ll share yours.
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