While the future is bright for the West Delaware High School facilities, students faced many challenges and obstacles with the renovation process. 

Obstacles range from decreased organization to continued drilling, distracting noises, trouble learning, and difficulty parking. 

Teachers face adversity every day, but they place learning first to provide students with a positive environment. 

“The construction affected the simple things like the organization,” math teacher Mary Wegmann said. “I lost my whiteboards behind my desk to help keep students organized. I transitioned to the whiteboards in the back of my classroom to continue helping students keep track of their assignments.”

The progress seems to move slowly, but Principal Tim Felderman hopes to continue and keep it positive. 

“According to the contract, there needs to be substantial completion by the end of February,” Felderman said. “In the future, it is going to be beautiful, but we are slowly getting there. The upper floor bathrooms aren’t done, but they are so much better than they were.”

While renovations happen during the day, students inside the classroom are affected as well. 

“Distractions like drilling and hammering happen during tests, so we are trying to minimize those distractions to help students and their learning,” Felderman said. 

Maintaining a quality education while trying to get access for construction workers so they can complete the project in a timely manner is the school’s biggest focus, Felderman said.

Art teacher Alisa Neil also faces distractions.

“Every day, we experience rattling and items being moved in and out while trying to teach, but we look for the positives and make things work,” Neil said. “My biggest challenge is not having any sinks, but we work with what we have.”

Students also experience the struggle of parking when coming to school.

“It is difficult trying to find a parking spot with storage bins taking up spaces in the main lot,” senior Trent Deutmeyer said. “It is especially hard to park when you come to school later or if you have an open campus. It takes a little bit longer to get to classes if you have to park farther away.”

Throughout the construction process, students have remained resilient while adjusting to the challenges. 

“Construction has been difficult to navigate around,” junior Maddy Johnson said. “I am excited about the controlled temperatures and the updated upper gym.”