By David Slone
Times-Union
AKRON — Teachers, coaches, administrators and students were excited to show the public the renovations and additions to Tippecanoe Valley High School during an open house on Sunday.
Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation Superintendent Blaine Conley said planning began in 2022 with public meetings to gather input from not only school personnel but also from the community on what the needs for the facility were.
They knew the pool needed to be renovated.
Wanting to expand the agriculture program, having added a second teacher a few years ago, Conley said, “We wanted to provide a really improved instructional space for those two teachers.”
The weight room was expanded, and a multi-purpose room will give the wrestling team a place to work and practice to expand their program.
“We were able to get all those different components into this project,” he said. “The auditorium was something that had been discussed for a long time, and we knew that there will be community events out here. And, obviously, the student events with our choir, theater and band. There will be more people able to come out and watch our kids compete and participate in those different activities.”
The project is very close to being completed. The $31 million in renovations and new construction is a tax rate-neutral project, Conley said.
One of the new spaces is the weight and fitness room, along with new locker rooms, to the right of a new entry.
Brandon Webster, strength and conditioning coach, said, “The old weight room was about 2,000 square feet. This is about 5,000 square feet, and we added 15 racks, so now we can have class sizes of 60 in here training at one time. So it’s just a little bit more efficient and, obviously, we’ve got a little bit more toys to play with to kind of help lead the student-athletes to a better future.”
Along with the weights, there are some cardio machines, med balls and “all sorts of fun stuff,” he said.
Of the people he sees during the day, Webster said about 90% are athletes.
Since opening in February, the weight and fitness room has just been open to students to let them break in the new equipment. Starting Nov. 11, it will be opened to the public, Conley said. Hours will be 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. People can enter the north door.
Across the hall from the weight and fitness room is the newly constructed stage and auditorium.
Thomas Boys, director of vocal music and theater arts, said the new stage at 48 feet is wider than the old state was at about 30 feet. Stage depth is also bigger, and over 600 people can be seated in the updated chairs.
“In here, we’re on all LED lighting,” he said, and they don’t have to climb a ladder to change the color gels on the lights. It’s all on the keyboard system up in the booth.
“Everything is larger,” Boys said, including the wing space. “We can have larger groups. If any outside groups wanted to come and do a concert, or any kind of performance, I think we’re able to accommodate almost any normal-size production.”
There’s dressing rooms for boys and girls, as well as a green room for performers to do their hair and makeup.
The first production that will make use of the stage is Valley’s Got Talent at 7 p.m. Nov. 7. Two weeks after that will be the fall play, “Circus Olympus.” Show times are 7 p.m. Nov. 21 and 2 p.m. Nov. 23.
Boys said they’re getting training on the lights and sound this week.
Janell Riner, band director for the past 26 years, said the auditorium is acoustically designed for performances.
“It’s going to boost our sound – not necessarily make us louder, but the audience is going to be able to hear with absolute precision everything we do, which is really exciting,” she said. “The band will be able to hear themselves better. That makes you a better musician.”
She said it’ll give the band program a boost with exposure, which she said will be great.
“I would think, for the parents, it would be really, really exciting to come and watch their kids in a place like this. Behind the scenes, we know how hard the kids work, but then to get them out here, in this place, it just really, really highlights all the work that they’ve put into it. So, as a parent, I would be very excited to see my kid on this stage,” she stated.
The pool has been renovated and looks like new.
Scott Whetstone, boys and girls swim coach, said he swam at the old TVHS pool for age group and in high school.
“It’s a huge update. Much needed. But it’s been a lot of change and a lot of updates, with the bleachers, obviously. Getting the pool re-tiled. A whole new circulation system, all the stuff they did to improve to just get us up and running,” he said.
It’s still a six-lane pool, but there is an updated digital scoreboard. There’s a new timing system and inlines.
“Everything refurbished and new,” Whetstone stated. “We’re hoping to bring in some kids, that’s what we’re trying to do – help the program. Obviously, a new facility should help. Trying to get some numbers up and trying to get things moving along.”
The girls swim season starts today, Monday, Oct. 28, while the boys start Nov. 11.
He thanked the school board and everyone who helped make the pool a reality.
Conley said there will be open time for the pool for the public, with that information to be posted on their Facebook page.
Nathan Shewman, head wrestling coach, said the dedicated wrestling room will have mats on the floor from wall to wall. While there won’t be any competitions held in the room, he said it’ll just be for practice.
“With girls wrestling being sanctioned this year, that’s going to increase the number of kids we have in here at any given time for practice. It’ll be nice to have a place of our own finally,” he stated.
Luke Tucker, FFA president, and Aaron Backus, FFA secretary, highlighted the new agriculture space in the school.
“A lot of the stuff in here is new, more modern. With the shop stuff, it’ll help us learn the more modern ways to do stuff. There’s a lot of more new stuff that we didn’t have in our old one,” Backus said.
The FFA also has its own office for meetings.
In the new shop are all new welding booths and welders, which “is a big upgrade from what we had,” Tucker said. “And we have all new tools, tool chests, all that type of stuff.” He said the shop is a lot nicer.
Michael Jones, one of two TVHS agriculture teachers, said four years ago they added a second ag teacher, Hope Slagle, after student enrollment in the ag program increased.
“When we moved back here (from the north side of the school to the south), they built us two brand new classrooms, which are wide open. Lots of lab space so we can do more labs. And then a new ag shop for my ag mechanics classes,” he stated.
The ag classes are closer to the woods, which they use a lot. The cattle operations also are back there.
Jonathan Tinkey, esports coach at Valley, and player Jacob Scacco showed off the new esports room.
“Esports stands for electronic sports. It is competition of different video games, usually team-based,” Tinkey said. “… Players compete against different schools in getting different objectives in a map.”
He said esports help students with teamwork and thinking on their feet. In many matches, they can be won or lost on a quick decision. Valley has 30 students currently in esports and they’re divided into four different games.
Scacco has been playing esports for two years. He said what he likes about it are the connections he makes. His best friend plays with him and esports gives them something to talk about and learn about each other. He said he’s also made a lot of friends through the games.
Brandon Kresca, TVHS principal, summarized the renovation project by stating, “It’s new opportunity … We’ve just been anticipating this completion so that we can have access to all these spaces for our different groups – our fine arts departments, our athletic departments, our agriculture departments. So many different groups are getting their programs enhanced by these different spaces.”
