Contrary to current knowledge, construction plans for a new field will not disrupt graduation plans.
The stadium grass will not be killed and removed before graduation, according to Principal Tim Hornig. SDA will soon be undergoing a very large face-lift because of the money provided by a bond for improvement on school facilities. Part of the construction will be redoing and upgrading SDA’s athletic facilities, particularly the field.
The situation of tearing up the field before graduation was brought up at the most recent SDA forum on Feb. 28, where students debated both sides of the issue.
“Many seniors felt it was important to realize that graduation is not really about the grass, and how this was an opportunity to make their unique mark upon SDA’s history and give a gift to the underclassmen,” said junior and Forum leader Mayeda, ASB President.
However, senior and Forum leader Benjy Malings said, “Some students felt it would take away from graduation…and expressed a desire for a simple, normal graduation process without any glaring distractions such as a field with dead grass.”
Colorfully creative solutions like doing color runs on the field and having student art blocking sections of dead grass were suggested by some students, Hornig said.
“Some of the solutions included painting the dead grass colors like a mural or plain green, or putting up backdrops and having all the seniors paint them, or having a giant war with water balloons filled with paint and white graduation gowns,” added Mayeda.
“I was thoroughly impressed…how aware the student body is,” said Hornig about the solutions and activeness of the students concerning the grass issue.
Despite all the hubbub, the issue has been settled. “We looked at all options, working with the designers and architects, to complete the project as we had planned,” said Hornig. Construction will continue as planned; graduation will proceed as normal, with grass, and next year’s sports teams will eventually have a field on which to play and practice.
“The conflict is that over the summer they are going to redo the stadium and field as part of the bond renovations, and if they start it the day after graduation the fall sports teams will have barely any time to use it near the end of their seasons…The first step of redoing the grass is to let it dry out and die before removing it. If they stop watering the grass before graduation the sports teams will get an added three weeks on the field,” said Mayeda.
Unlike most fields, which can be installed and planted quickly, the plans for SDA require a shift in the position of the field. “Our footprint [the area on which the field is planted] needs to shift…that whole corner of the school is going to change,” said Hornig.
This shift, required for the replacement of the field, was the source of the potential need for more time than the upcoming graduation allotted. “With us, it was going to involve a lot more prep,” Hornig added.