Kenowa Hills — Sitting in the orchestra room recently before the start of class, Kenowa Hills Middle School students remembered their old classroom less than fondly.
“It’s cozy and clean, not musty, like the old brown carpet we used to have,” seventh-grader Quinn Hilla said.
Seventh-grader Summer Estes said she appreciated having a bigger classroom to rehearse for concerts.
“This room is designed to be more soundproof, so we don’t have to hear what is going on outside and we can focus on our own learning,” she added.
The middle school’s music suite is musty no more, with separate band and orchestra rooms, instrument lockers and storage spaces, funded by the $67 million bond proposal approved by voters in 2020.
Phase 3 of bond projects — which included the music wing as well as five new classrooms and two additional science rooms — was completed in January 2024.
Both new music classrooms give each ensemble their own rehearsal space and were built with better acoustics and several windows for more natural light, which seventh-grader Hazel Griffith said let more light into the classroom, allowing her to see her sheet music better.
Making Space to Make Music
Orchestra teacher Michelle Bessemer said the district “spared no expense” with the new, more secure lockers in the hallway between both music rooms for students to store their instruments during the school day.
Eighth-grader Rayna Lobbezoo said, “It’s nice to have our lockers. Now our instruments have a place to go and are not lying around the room.”
Bessemer also explained the distinctly different designs for both classrooms’ flooring choices:
“Having carpet on the orchestra room floor is safer for our wood instruments,” she said. “They put tile in the band room instead of carpet, so when the students empty their spit valves, the floor doesn’t absorb the condensation.”
Superintendent Jerry Hopkins said the middle school band and orchestra teachers were “instrumental” in planning for the construction of the new spaces.
“They provided input on everything, from the number and design of the storage spaces and lockers to the type of flooring within the classroom,” Hopkins said. “The existing spaces served our students and instructors well over the years, but lacked details that we believe are important for improving our band and orchestra program.”
Hopkins said when the middle school opened, there was no orchestra program, so creating storage space for equipment and practice rooms was one of the district’s bond construction goals.
“Our facility and master planning examined ways in which we could improve all aspects of our programming for students,” he said. “Future construction at our high school will include improving the fine arts wing, which includes band, choir and orchestra rooms and our Performing Arts Center.”
Read more from Kenowa Hills:
• Student musicians take sounds outside the classroom
• Phase 1 of bond improvements nearing completion
