Akron’s newest tech school, with its vibrant colors, flat-screen televisions, smart boards, laptops and wireless microphones, has students and staff beaming with pride.
The new John R. Buchtel Community Learning Center opened this school year, serving students in grades seven through 12.
The building merges Buchtel High School with its feeder school in the Buchtel cluster, Perkins Middle School.
Though attached, the schools have separate entrances. The middle school entrance is on Glendora Avenue, and the high school entrance is on Copley Road.
A key card is needed to enter from one side to the other, which keeps the middle schoolers separate from the high school students. The only shared spaces are the auditorium and the cafeteria, but lunch periods are at different times.
There are 936 students this school year, a slight increase from last year, and one principal.
“It’s a state-of-the-art facility with the level of technology that enhances instruction,” said principal Sonya Gordon, who was the leader of the old high school the three previous school years. “It’s also a green school.
“It’s like night and day, compared to the old school, but you can still get lost.
“There are still the same number of classrooms, 85.”
There are many career education programs, including information technology, fire/EMT, medical technology, CBI (Career Based Intervention), masonry, graphic arts, restaurant management, marketing, business administration and ROTC.
“Masonry and graphic arts are new to our building,” Gordon said. “There’s something here for everyone.”
She said the most common remark about the new school is: “It’s such a bright building and takes some adjustment on the eyes.”
Gordon said the only things missing are a few more school decorations in the hallways to make it more “Buchtel.” Students are working on that.
A mosaic griffin — the school mascot — is embedded in the black-and-white tile floor at the lobby entrance to the high school. The two griffin statues that stood guard at the doorway of the old principal’s office now stand guard in the lobby entrance way.
There are two floors in the new building, compared with the four floors in the old high school.
Students call the front showcase stairs to the second floor the “wedding staircase.”
Every hallway is a different color, with speckled floors and colorful square blocks. The walls are brightly colored in yellow, purple, turquoise, lime green and ocean blue, but each hallway intersection has floor squares in the traditional black-and-white school colors.
“We wanted to keep some semblance of our Buchtel colors,” Gordon said.
The classrooms are white with black chairs.
High school students donning Buchtel Griffin Pride book bags talked about the pluses of the new school, including the new classroom teaching approach.
“I like the way the teachers use the idea that we are a team, not just individuals,” said Daizha Ulmer, 17, a senior. “I’m more of a group person and I like the classes, because they are more project-based.”
Domanique Moore, 17, also a senior, said her favorite class is advanced placement English literature and she is taking another marketing and education class this year because she liked being able to compete in advertising and develop a business plan.
“I enjoy the new school, especially the auditorium and gym — oh, and now we have air conditioning,” Domanique said. “But I really enjoy the teachers at the school. They are really good.”
Buchtel joined the New Tech High network of high schools across the country, which focuses on problem- solving skills and computer literacy.
In English technology class, ninth-graders write and read on laptops to improve literacy skills.
“We use English technology while learning proper English,” said Marjorie Clements, one of three instructors of the combined class of integrated technology and English arts. “We have what we call a gallery walk where students help establish classroom norms.”
The students move from blackboard station to station, collaborating on projects that require critical thinking and communication.
On a recent afternoon, one station challenged students to create a working definition of respect and responsibility.
“Instead of us developing rules, it allows them the opportunity to display their leadership skills by establishing rules and monitoring themselves, just like they would have to do in college or in labor,” Gordon said. “Even study halls are now called workshops, because that’s the language used in the real world and the students are working on developing projects during those periods.”
In another area, Ilene Zacaroff of the IT classes instructs students on how to program and repair computers.
“They fix all the computers in the school. The students [made up of juniors and seniors] just came up with their own slogan: ‘Error on the screen, we’re on the scene,’ ” she said. “They work in teams to analyze the program because sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get information from people to determine what’s wrong with the computer.”
The school also has a Teacher Academy for students who want to be teachers.
Senior class president Samson Griffin, 17, wants to be a music education teacher.
“That part of education is dying in the schools and I want to bring it back. I’d like to teach it starting in elementary school and in the high school. I’m also the drum major and have a passion for high school marching bands,” said Griffin, who plays not only the drums but also the saxophone and trumpet. “It’s hard to see the old school go down, but the new school is more comfortable and gives a refreshing feeling. The colors help us relax.”
Old school remains
The old high school still stands in front of the new building because of the slow process of asbestos abatement, but is expected to be torn down by the end of October. The old gymnasium, which has been renovated, will remain.
The football field is also intact. United Way volunteer groups repaired the school’s bleachers.
Special education teacher Denise Ricks for grades 9-12 has been at Buchtel for 13 years and has lived in the community for 48 years.
“I love coming to Buchtel,” she said. “I know many of the students because I live in the neighborhood and have watched them grow up and know their families. My husband graduated from Buchtel, we had a special-needs daughter who graduated from Buchtel in 2000 and she really enjoyed the experience here and I want to give back. This new school is beautiful. I love it. It’s like having a new house.”
Gordon said the Buchtel staff’s commitment is to empower students to be innovative, lifelong learners and prepare them to contribute in a global society. “It’s all about the students, because without them, there is no us,” she said.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.