As you walk through the halls of West Anchorage High School you may see some leaky roofs, vandalism on the bathroom stalls, or maybe a bug or two coming through the walls in class. Maybe you may have heard West as being ghetto or old. Yes, West may be the oldest school in the Anchorage School District, but being the oldest school does not mean it has to be ghetto.
West has gotten some new upgrades such as; the new paint job in the gym, Smart Boards in all of the classrooms, and the brand new turf football field. But West is getting a new attachment to the building: the new process technology building being constructed in place of the old Cove.
Rick Stone, the principal of West is really looking forward to the construction of the new building. Cornerstone Construction is the company constructing the new building. “I’m excited to get something new for West High, state of the art technology, a clear pathway for students who like engineering, medical, and multimedia. It’s going to be one of the best facilities in the state,” says Stone.
The reason why West is getting the new process technology building is because the facility West has right now is over-crowded. Rick says, “We need additional rooms, and also there is a need in this community for our students to explore new career options.” Rick Stone, who has been working at West for eight years, obviously knows a lot about our school. He knows that West isn’t the newest school, or the most technologically advanced, but he is very proud to be the principal of West High.
This new building will bring West lots of pride and energy, and as Rick says, “It will give West a big shining star.”
1982 West graduate, and current P.E department head, Rob Larkey thinks the new building is a great idea. “You can never waste money on education,” Larkey says. Being a graduate from West, Larkey knows what people think about our school. “West High has been over-looked for many years, it’s great to see West getting refurbished,” he says.
Before the construction of the building stood the Cove. The Cove was where students would go to meetings during lunch about school activities, or where you would go to see a counselor. But now the cove is completely torn down. A couple of years ago was the beginning of the process technology program at West High. The program was so successful that more people took the course and pretty soon it began to be crowded with students. So the idea came up, and West successfully got a new process technology building, which should be finished within the next couple of years.
The building will cost around $15-20 million and was proposed by a bond. The building is going to be two stories high, the first floor being all your process tech materials and rooms, multimedia rooms, and a place for the West Update. The whole second floor is going to all be the medical material for students who want to study medical careers. This building will give West High a great new look, and have a huge impact on students who want to learn about different careers.