Feelin' Good

I get the email updates from Parents Connect and I just had to share with you what the intro to the email today said:

Look at you! Ditching the yoga pants for jeans. Showering almost every day. And finally able to touch your boobs and wipe without wincing. Next thing you know you’ll be wearing makeup, cleaning the house and having sex three times a week (OK, twice a month. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves!)

Hahaha, SO TRUE! I love it. Life sure is completely different, but I’m feeling good (…today. Ask me again tomorrow.)

New Thurgood Marshall High School an efficient use of space and resources

Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH) January 22, 2008 | Scott Elliott Staff Writer DAYTON — Major Odell Graves may be getting less of a workout, but his students no longer have an excuse for being late to class. go to site marshall high school

As the junior Reserve Office Training Corps commander at Colonel White High School, Graves would count as many as 2,000 steps on his pedometer by walking the halls of the cavernous old school.

At the new, compact Thurgood Marshall High School, Graves said he is lucky to log 900 steps a day.

“I’m always on time for class now,” senior Adrienne Fairbanks said.

Another big change for students and staff is the amount of light that enters the new school, which opened earlier this month.

The skylight-filled school has twice as many windows as recommended for a high school by the Ohio School Facilities Commission guidelines. Built into a wooded hillside, the school’s windows do more than show off the pleasant scenery. Builders hope the extra light will allow the school to reduce heating and lighting costs.

While Colonel White was expanded during the years to accommodate the larger student populations of the past, Marshall is sized just right for the 645 students who attend it. However, its common areas — - the gym, an auditorium/cafeteria and the media center, music and art rooms — were built to handle as many as 900 students. And the school was designed to allow for a second academic wing if enrollment grows. marshallhighschoolnow.net marshall high school

The gym is especially impressive — it seats 2,000 for basketball and the court is college-sized. This would allow Marshall to host state tournament games.

All the classroom space is housed in one wing, with four “learning communities” divided by subject — language arts, math, social studies and one for electives such as foreign language and ROTC. Science labs are built into all four communities.

There’s also 75 security cameras inside and outside the building and windowed classrooms that allow those in the hallway to see in. The main doors ferry visitors into the main office before they can enter the school.

“It’s definitely safer here,” Fairbanks said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225‑2485 or selliott@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Scott Elliott Staff Writer