When students began the new academic year at Queen Palmer Elementary School last week, they may have noticed a difference in the atmosphere from just a few months before. The staff members at the District 11 school certainly felt it and were grateful for the change. “Oh, my gosh,” said Adita Karges, who has been teaching at Queen Palmer for six years.
“It’s a huge difference.” The “huge difference” was the presence of air conditioning, installed over summer break, for the first time since the building was erected. When the grade school was built, it was probably considered state-of-the-art, said principal Christina Butcher.
“And it’s still a beautiful building,” Butcher noted. But the school opened its doors in 1948, and a facilities upgrade was long overdue. “This is going to be a game changer for our students,” the principal said.
“They’re going to be in a welcoming learning environment that not only allows the teachers to teach at a high level, but also to keep the students alert and focused.” The air conditioning, installed by MTech Mechanical, was one of several recent projects aimed at improving the school’s environment, inside and out, according to District 11 spokeswoman Jessica Wise. “We’ve been trying to activate the outside spaces,” said Wise, who listed an outdoor play area and artificial turf field among the improvements.
“Now, this continues into the interior. When kids are playing outside, getting all hot and sweaty, you .