Kennewick Wolves begin prowling new halls Wednesday

Baylor Beauchamp counted lockers on the second floor of the new Chinook Middle School.

“Two, four, six, eight, 10,” he said as he walked from the intersection while his mother Shelley Beauchamp and his grandmother, Kathy Homme, followed him.

“It’s pretty big,” said Baylor, a seventh-grader. “I don’t know if I’m going remember where my locker or any of my classes are.”

The family was one of hundreds walking through the doors of Kennewick’s newest middle school on Tuesday. Students and parents got the chance to tour the building before starting school Wednesday .

While nervous about finding his way around the school, Baylor was excited to be moving from the nearly 40-year-old former Desert Hills Middle School.

“My locker was all dented in, and this one has an elevator that I like and a big cafeteria,” he said.

Shelley Beauchamp was just as excited about the new facility.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

Work started in July 2015 on the $40 million, 110,400-square-foot school. Voters approved funding it as part of $89.5 million bond passed in February 2015. The money paid to replace Desert Hills Middle School and Westgate Elementary School and build two new elementary schools.

District employees were finishing setting up on Tuesday.

Several displays in the school’s library were in shrink wrap, and para-educator Heidi Lambdin was decorating a bulletin board on the second floor near the language arts classrooms. Lambdin finished helping the autism program and was working to help the language arts department with its boards, she said.

“I’ve been here all week helping out. I wish it was my first day in here,” she said

She was excited about having the entire school in a single building, compared to the old Desert Hills school, where students attended classes in different buildings across the campus.

“I love that we’re all a unit now.” she said.

Chinook features 37 classrooms, two gyms, fitness lab, library, five computer labs, and orchestra and band rooms.

The new technology is what Greg Brooks, an eighth-grade teacher, was talking about as he stood in the doorway of his new classroom. Brooks’ career with the school district started about six years ago, and he spent most of it at Park Middle School.

The classrooms are equipped with a projector built into the ceiling, and the ability to project a touch screen onto the white board.

Thirty laptops sat in a locked cabinet in the corner on the classroom. They will allow nearly every one of Brooks’ math and history students access to a computer. A sound system allows the teacher to wear a lapel microphone and be heard from anywhere in the room.

“I don’t even know all of the potential of everything right now,” Brooks said.

Brooks and Chinook Principal Kevin Pierce said nearly every student will have access to a computer during classes. The technology, including the touch boards, audio equipment, automatic lighting and laptops, are highlights for the building.

“It’s not only a lot more space than what we had, but it’s also built for the the 21st century,” he said.

The teachers are going to learn how to operate the new technology, Pierce said.

“Certainly, we’ll start on (teaching staff about the new equipment) right away,” he said. “The challenge with teaching is that teaching is a full-time job, and it’s difficult to stop teaching to do the training.”

The building’s design mirrors the new Desert Hills Middle School building. He noted the large amount of natural light coming through numerous windows.

“All of that comes into having a really good attitude, and having kids feel pride in their surroundings,” he said. “It’s been my dream to be in a new building like this my whole career, so this is a dream come true for me.”

The public can take a look at the new building on Jan. 10 as part of ribbon-cutting event at 3:30 p.m.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Kennewick Wolves begin prowling new halls Wednesday."