The doors of the new Athens High School were expected to open today, but the building saw plenty of activity Tuesday. Faculty and staff worked to put the final touches on the $60 million project, which had a July 2016 groundbreaking.

Karen Clem, who teaches AP calculus and pre-calculus, looked forward to meeting students and learning about the new classroom together. She decorated her new room with stuffed cows, cow paintings and more to fit her “cow”-culus theme.

“Not only are we starting a new school but a new semester,” Clem said. “We’re going to see our students for the first time (Wednesday). I haven’t seen them yet. A lot of them I haven’t met before, and so I’m super excited to experience this with them.”

Clem is a graduate of Athens High, and she returned to the school to teach 30 years ago. She spent 29 of those years at the old campus, which has since become Athens Middle School.

“I was pretty emotional leaving that other building, because it was home,” she said. “It had been my one classroom for 29 years, so now I’m working hard to make this here feel like this is my home.”

Mingled with the cow theme are some serious upgrades in technology and furniture. Classroom chairs and much of the desks are on wheels to allow for ease in grouping students for projects or collaborations.

There are also flex areas in each corner of the building and outdoor classroom areas in the 1-acre courtyard in the center of campus. The flex areas are designed to serve as space for students to hang out before school or work during class, though they can be converted into additional classrooms as the student population grows.

“I’m excited to see the kids in these chairs and figure out how they’re going to work with the rolling,” Clem said. “We’re going to be able to easily move them and work on projects and in groups for problems.”

Instead of Smart Boards, each classroom now comes equipped with an interactive flat-panel television that allows teachers to play videos, browse the internet and even write notes on the screen.

Clem said the technology and the new cafeteria — which features a snack bar, seating for 350 people and charging ports at every table — are among her favorite differences between the new campus and the old.

“(The school) is so much bigger,” she said. “It’s intimidating, but we’re going to get used to it. We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting, and finally, we’re here.”

Engineering alumni

Faculty weren’t the only alumni working in the new building. According to a release from Morell Engineering, eight professionals from the company who helped develop the campus also graduated from the school.

Those professionals include Collin Hays, Luke Mathias, Blaine Morell, Cady Stewart, Caleb Pierce, Shirley Brown, Joseph Higginbotham and even company president Taz Morell.

While different parts of the project registered as “most exciting” for the group’s members, they all look forward to students and teachers calling the school home.

“I’m excited that students will have a place to help further their education and beyond,” Mathias said.

Morell Engineering performed surveys, construction staking and layout, construction materials testing and construction engineering and inspection for the new school, according to the release.

“What’s most exciting for me is that I’ve been able to use my education to give back to the school system that provided me with a foundation,” Stewart said.