UTICA — On Sunday, the North Fork community dedicated not one, but two, brand new elementary school buildings — Newton Elementary in St. Louisville and Utica Elementary in Utica. The residents commemorated the collaboration that made the 21st-century facilities possible and, as Utica Elementary school principal Sharon Greene noted, celebrated the “wonderful adventure of dreaming about the new school to the reality of it.”
The featured speakers at Utica praised the voters who had the vision to bring the schools into the 21st century. Besides acknowledging the contribution of voters who passed the necessary levies to co-fund the project, school board president Bernard Snow thanked former superintendent Tom Slater, and praised the design and construction teams which did “an outstanding job within the budget and completed construction mostly on time.”
State Rep. Jay Hottinger presented a formal proclamation to the school board, declaring the Newton and Utica projects “excellent examples of a successful local community and state partnership for the good of our young people.” Tony Lococo, representing the Ohio School Facilities Commission, also congratulated the North Fork residents for their support of quality educational environments, and architect Jay Richards added to the accolades.
“You,” he told the community members present, “said, ‘Yes. We believe in education.’ You said, ‘We believe in schools’ and declared, ‘Our children are worth it.’”
Superintendent of Schools Scott Hatley shared the teachers’ and pupils’ excitement and enthusiasm for the new facilities, which open for classes on Sept. 2.
“The halls are no longer dingy and dirty,” he said. “They are bright and airy. We have 21st century technology in all the rooms, and it is no longer flooding in the gym. We have a gym that is a gym and a cafeteria that is a cafeteria. Our science rooms were designed for science and the reading rooms designed for reading. ... This is for our kids, the future of Utica and the future of North Fork schools.”
Koby Wilson and Grant Preston, grade five; Sydney Hufford, grade four; and Abby Lambert, grade three, assisted Greene with the Utica ribbon-cutting. Pastor Bruce Hissong gave the invocation and the Utica High School band provided the musical interludes.
A reception and self-guided building tour followed the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Seven-year-old Trina Orr was checking out her new classroom with her mother, Karla, and 10-year-old sister, Taylor. She echoed the sentiments of all the youngsters exploring the halls.
“This is nice. It’s really, really nice,” she said.
