Renovations at the school for fifth- and sixth-graders will include new heating, lighting, technology, flooring, ceilings, furniture and air conditioning. The outdated industrial arts area will be demolished, and a 1,500-square-foot addition will be built. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2016 and be completed for the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.
“When Berry gets remodeled, we want to show we were here and leave a legacy,” said sixth-grader Isabelle Wolf.
In order for the students to have their time at Berry set in stone forever, they hit the books. In science class, they researched rocks and minerals to determine which would be the best for creating a memorial stone to leave at BIS.
Jefferson was inspired to connect her curriculum with the renovations at the historic school building to meet the Ohio Department of Education’s New Learning Standards for Science.
“One of the new trends in education is to do project-based learning where the students focus on a real-life, meaningful projects to help learn their content,” she explained. “It allows the students to think at a higher level and connect with content in a more meaningful way. They aren’t just doing unconnected labs in a science classroom anymore — going through the motions of learning — they are taking an active part in it.”
The students on Team Destination tested numerous rocks and minerals, used technology to research and worked with local company Dodds Monuments.
In the end, they determined granite was the best rock to use.
“I learned a lot of the older memorials made of limestone and marble are eroding from the inside out and falling apart, but granite only erodes one-tenth of an inch every 2000 years,” said student Zach Roemer.
Students donated their own funds, and Dodds covered the remainder of the cost for the memorial stone.
“Dodds Monument was a huge part of this,” said student Madi Winkler. “They put in a huge amount of money to make the memorial, read all the letters we sent them, and made the design.”
About the Author