“This is Our School” Liberty-Curtin Celebrates Grand Opening
By Christopher Miller
BLANCHARD – The community, teachers, students, and school board came together Monday afternoon for the Liberty-Curtin Elementary School Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
“The dream started five years ago and turned into the beautiful thing behind us,” said Brad McCloskey, Instructional & Behavioral Support Facilitator.
Jeff Straub, Lead Architect of the project representing Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates was present and asked to speak about the new building.
“We started talking with the district in 2018/2019 about this project. It is nice to not have two buildings on this campus. From the team and contractors, thank you for being part of your team and community for these past six to seven years. These projects don’t come along very often, these are generational buildings, the last one being here for over 50 years. There were a lot of things lacking in the previous facility that were lived with for quite some time. Hearing everybody’s input and seeing the final product today is remarkable. It is time for us to go away and for the school and community to enjoy this building for years.”
Mr. Brett Umbenhouer, Principal of Liberty-Curtin Elementary, spoke next, by saying “we did it.”
“This has been a long process but one that was very rewarding. We celebrate the opening of our new elementary school. We recognize the years of planning, hard work, and dedication that brought us all to this moment. Our theme here is “one team, one dream,” and over the past few years that phrase has never meant more. We leaned on our staffulty, our families, our community, and every single one of you has been a part of that journey.”
“Thank you for your patience and your support, and for keeping our students and community at the heart of this process. Our goal was simple: staying true to tradition by having a small community school built on support, involvement, and academic success while opening the door to new opportunities and the future. This building is more than classrooms and walls. It is a place full of possibilities, programs, partnerships, and events that will benefit our students and community. We have learning spaces that are flexible and welcoming, designed to spark collaboration, creativity, and motivation to help our kids learn and grow. This school reflects who we are: a community that comes together, a place where every child matters, and a future that feels wide open.
“Let’s remember: this is our school, it’s built by our community for our children and for generations to come. “LC” is the place to be.”
At the conclusion, the school board, principal, staffulty, and architectural team all came together for pictures and the ribbon cutting.
The school features all brand new features: from the floor to ceiling, the building was designed with the future in mind. The shared art and music room contains sound-dampening panels for music students, while classrooms contain “desks on wheels,” for easy maneuverability.
The school is bursting at the seams with technology with textbooks on e-reader devices, display boards, and computers, offering the ultimate in collaboration software.
In the Media Center (Library, for us older folks), books line the shelves where “maker spaces” can be seen on the walls and desk areas.
The school also came complete with a Cafe-Gym-atorium.
Throughout the Cafe-Gym-atorium and Media Center, pictures and artifacts of Liberty-Curtin’s past came to life, with yearbooks and school event programs filling multiple desks and tables. The original time capsule from 1966 was opened, showing its contents: school photos, a yearbook, notes, a key to the building, a child’s hand-created book of poems, money from the year it was built, and an old newspaper announcing the original School Ceremony happening on a Sunday afternoon.
In all, hundreds gathered for the official opening and ribbon cutting of a brand new school building, the crown of the district.
