Pictured is part of the interior of Warsaw Community Schools’ Student Activity Center. Photo provided.

WARSAW — Warsaw Community Schools will host a grand opening ceremony for its newly constructed student activity center at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9.

The ribbon cutting will take place at the activity center at the northwest side of the building near the pool entrance. An open house event will follow from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Those attending will be able to recognize the new addition by the “W” markings along the building’s exterior.

As the construction stage of the project is now complete, Warsaw Community Schools is now working with its student body to select a new name for the building addition. The name will be announced following Warsaw Community High School students’ suggestions and voting in the coming weeks.

The project was conceptualized following a realization for the need of significant change in order to promote the wellness of students, staff and the community. After reviewing interviews and feedback sessions with internal and external stakeholders to determine how WCS could improve upon its mission statement, it became clear the theme with highest consistency and urgency was the wellness of students within all buildings. About 73 percent of respondents put student wellness as a top priority within the district.

Following these discoveries, WCS began to increase focus on student wellness through the development of a Strategic Planning Acceleration Team, which focused on holistic student and staff wellness and began the planning stages of the Student Activity Center. Unfortunately, WCS facilities were not capable of fully meeting the wellness needs of students, staff and the community. However, through the creation of the Student Activity Center, WCS is now equipped with a designated space for wellness within the district.

The construction of the activity center would not have been possible without the receipt of a grant from the K21 Health Foundation. The grant, totaling $333,226, assisted in increasing the capacity and access to unique program offerings for students, staff and the community. This was accomplished through the use of enhanced equipment that will now allow staff to smoothly transition between various sporting events and activities which would otherwise be cumbersome and time-consuming. This equipment includes gym dividing curtains, suspended nets for volleyball and tennis as well as additional basketball hoops. This funding also allowed WCS to avoid tax impact through the use of other resources to purchase additional equipment and enhancements to maximize facility usage.