The School!
Paulette Elementary
Week 30
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 The
article for week 30 begins at our courthouse. I went there with a
friend and was loafing while he did his business in the deeds office. I
walked down the hall to where several of my friends had gathered to
talk. Once there I was inundated with questions about the new school. One question I got, I thought needed to be answered. I guess we can file it in the rumor category. One of the gentlemen asked me if it was true that the sewer would not be in on time to open the new school. One said he had heard that the school was going to have a septic tank. The rumor seems to have gotten around that due to a mess up in paperwork that the sewer would not be done. This simply is not the case. One call to a county official tells us that all paperwork is in Nashville and by the time I write this the bonds are being sold. I asked Mr. Goforth about this issue and he told me that the system had been in contact with the County and all was on schedule. In  fact
he was checking to see if the sewer could start construction at the
school and go north. Generally in the past construction has started at
Maynardville and gone outward. Mr Goforth and Rouse Construction hope
it can start at the school. If it can they can begin working to hook
all of the school to it while the line is still under construction.
This could save up to two weeks in construction time.So yes the sewer should be done and no, there is no septic tank. Another rumor bites the dust. Paulette should be finishing up the HVAC in a few days. In recent articles we have shown the units being installed in each room. Within the week the kitchen equipment should be delivered and installation should begin. This will include the freezer units and appliances. Also within a week a mock up of the paint scheme should be in place. I'll try to get by there and get some photos of it. I attended the weekly meeting that included officials from Rouse Construction, Brady Associates, Director Wayne Goforth, Chairman Brian Oaks, Glenn Coppock and Jason Bailey. Generally the meeting was simply a checkoff of what was completed and what was in  the
next week. All seemed to be very on track as it should be. Mr. Bailey
was interested in how long it would be before the offices were ready.Now I realize I have written about Jason Bailey in the past. He will become the first Principal of Paulette when it opens. He wants in the office as soon as possible so he can start getting records and files in order. He also told the architect (tongue in cheek) that he wanted to be there when the furniture was delivered. When asked why he replied, "I want to make sure they don't ding the walls or scratch the floor!" Now I realize that Jason was kidding but it also displays a character trait to me. Jason will be the kind of administrator that takes pride in his campus and will take care of it and expect those around him to do the same. This may seem a small thing and really it is but most things start small and grow. We have a school system that many of us as taxpayers inherited. Historically, school upkeep has been given a pretty low priority in the past. This has led to the schools being in pretty bad shape. Many of you attended the meeting I had at MES and explored the school with me looking at what was wrong with it. We have a  Director
now who is working hard to correct the issues that have grown over the
past forty years. He can't fix all the issues and is working hand in
hand with our county court to address the ones that can be corrected.
But he is also going a few steps further. One step of course is
building Paulette.Yes, building Paulette will take some of the crowding out of MES. But that is the here and now. I spoke with the Fire Marshal a few weeks ago and he said a Director can not look at the here and now only but must see the today and then ten years farther down the road. He told me that the system had gone a long way in the last two years. Mr. Goforth will be addressing the here and now at MES with Paulette. But he is also addressing the years down the road with Jason Bailey. He is installing a young man who is already taking pride in his job. He is already taking pride in his school. This will translate to five years down the road a better upkeep of the school than historically has happened with new schools in the system. This may seem to be a little thing but it isn't. This is the way an official watches after our tax dollars. It doesn't stop with building a new school but keeping it up in the future. Jason is the right person, in the right place at the right time. One question I got all of last week was, "what is the plastic for on the front of the building?"  The
plastic was there to hold in heat for some concrete that was being
formed. If concrete gets too cold in the curing state it gets
un-uniform. The plastic was put in and heat was pumped in to
maintain a proper temperature day and night. You can see the plastic in
the large picture at the top of this page.Figure 1 above shows the workers sealing each joint of siding on the school. The joints are sealed to allow expansion and contraction as the temperature changes. The siding is made up by two heavy pieces of aluminum with 3.5 inches of compressed foam insulation between them. Figure 2 depicts additional workers getting a form ready for the concrete to be poured later. They dug out the area and leveled it with fine gravel that was compacted down. Below this conduit was run for wires and fixtures today. Also planning for the future additional conduits were run. This will allow the school to run additional wires at a later date without disturbing the concrete. Figure 3 shows School Board Chairman Brian Oaks walking the site. While I was there he walked the entire sight stopping to talk to workers and ask questions. Several times he asked if this or that was done or on track. Seems like every time I tried to take his picture he turned around. But while I was talking to him he used phrases like "our county's children" and "this school will..." He is taking an interest in not only what this school is but what it will be. He hopes the school will help draw industry into our community and bring jobs. A recent Forbes article said that the number one thing large corporations look for when relocating is the quality of schools. With the recent excellent report card given our system by the state and our first State of the Art school, Brian may be right. And finally we come to Figure 4. This may be my favorite piece this week. The framework has been installed for the stage. I think the archway is magnificent! The fact that the school will have a stage is superb to me. When I went to MES in the 70's we had a stage. I still remember being pulled off the stage with my friend Randy because of the song we sang. It was the talent show and all of our class was expected to do something. Some danced, some played instruments, Randy and I sang a song. Unfortunately there had been no tryouts and the teachers had no idea what we were going to sing. Also I must admit Randy and I didn't know what half the words in our song meant! It seems this would be our first lesson in double entendres or the fact that sometimes words have two meanings. Yes the stage! A place where kids can excel and showcase their talents. And back in my day a place where kids could mortify their teachers! I hope Mr. Jason is more forgiving of his pupil's transgressions than Mr. Charles Lynch was of mine and Randy's. Just remembering it makes the seat of my pants hurt. |
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