Jackson dedicates h.s. with hopes for success

BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

Clockwise from top - The Jackson combined marching band performs at opening ceremonies of the Jackson Liberty High School dedication, Aug. 24. Members of the Jackson Air Force Junior ROTC present the colors. Guests who toured the new high school had an opportunity to visit the media center. The ribbon has been cut and the doors are officially open.Jackson now has two high schools as Jackson Liberty High School, North Hope Chapel Road, was welcomed to a district that is 10 schools strong.

"It's something the community should be proud of," Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said of the $70 million building. "It's a great facility and it's an opportunity for kids in Jackson."

Gialanella said the construction of the new school will relieve the pressure of overcrowding at Jackson Memorial High School, Don Connor Boulevard. Jackson Liberty will open next week with freshman and sophomore classes. The first graduating class will be the class of 2009.

Gialanella said that hopefully the school will be filled with great students and great teachers.

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Principal Maureen Butler welcomed students, parents, teachers and hundreds of residents to a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at the school on Aug. 24. Butler said she is proud to be the principal of the new high school.

"The fact that you are here tonight is really a testament to the community spirit that I encountered the moment I stepped foot in Jackson," she said. "Just look around you. This school is here because you decided to help the students of Jackson."

Butler said that over the past several months, she and others have focused on construction projects, on student scheduling, on getting curriculum and facilities ready for the moment when the students of the classes of 2009 and 2010 will take their places in the halls of learning.

She thanked Parent Teacher Student Network President Cheryl Kokich and the members of the PTSN for helping to launch the school year with style.

Butler also recognized Assistant Principal Daniel McDevitt, who was previously a teacher and an assistant principal at Jackson Memorial.

Members of the Jackson Air Force Junior ROTC program, which received the Distinguished Unit Award, presented the colors.

"[They are] the very best of the 794 Air Force Junior ROTC units in the entire nation," Butler said. "The group is comprised of students from Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty."

A musical celebration followed, presented by the joint Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty band and featuring patriotic songs.

Jackson Board of Education President Linda Lackay said that as new residential developments brought new neighbors to Jackson, it was obvious the community's school facilities would have to develop as well.

"One high school simply could not support our ever-changing demographics," Lackay said. "The community of Jackson knew it was vital to address class size and to create many opportunities for our students to succeed. It was time to embrace the idea that a part of Jackson's future was already here."

Guests at the Jackson Liberty High School open house take a break from their tour in the new school's lecture hall. Lackay said that for some residents it will mean an adjustment to think of both Jaguars and Lions with red and black as colors that symbolize a long-standing tradition in Jackson.

"Yet, the addition of the color silver, flanking the same brilliant red, will surely sparkle [and show] equal dignity and respect," she said. "Over the past few years we have come to welcome new faces, new schools and new colors, yet much has remained the same. Jackson will always be a community that cares about its students."

Board of Education member Gus Acevedo gave recognition to the Jackson Memorial High School class of 1966.

"I am here as a member of Jackson's first high school graduating class, the class of 1966," Acevedo said, "and as a member of the Jackson Board of Education in 2006 to announce that a new school has been built on a street called 'Hope.' "

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Jackson Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella addresses an audience of residents and township officials who packed the gym for the dedication of Jackson's second public high school. Acevedo said that from the halls of Jackson Liberty will come the future leaders, the aspirations and hope of Jackson.

"Everything they do for good or ill will shape the history of this new gift to our community from the community itself," Acevedo said. "If America has a starting point, it is in the doorways of our homes, our places of worship and our schools. Make us all proud. Go off and learn, ask the big question, seek big answers, write the books that other students will read, venture your capital and venture to the moon. Invent the unimaginable, find the cures, manage and lead the cities and nations. Protect our communities and nation, compose poems and musicals, win the games, strive to be brave-hearted Lions along-side your fellow Jaguars [and] make ourselves and our families proud of what hopes we brought to life."

Zachary Zarrow provides a musical welcome during the open house at Jackson Liberty High School. Following closing comments by Mayor Mark Seda, Jackson Liberty student representatives and Butler cut a lengthy red ribbon and tours of the new high school were held for students, parents and residents.