MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio —- The Barack Obama Elementary school opened its doors for the first time today.
“It’s so exciting, absolutely. It’s like a dream come true,” said teacher Linda Reisig. “I just love watching the kid’s faces when they walked into the room and their eyes just wide open, just looking at all the wonderful things that they have. “
Principal Dawn Besteder said the community’s been waiting for two years to open its doors—two years well worth it.
“Everything is state-of-the-art and it’s just amazing to see how much potential the kids have and how much they can grow in this environment,” Besteder said.
Tay’lor Lumpkin was one of 600 fourth and fifth-grade students who walked into the building this morning. She couldn’t believe what she saw.
“We took a big tour, and I love it all,” said Lumpkin, a fifth-grade student. “We get more space and we have room to put our stuff. At the other school, we had bags to put our supplies in.”
The building is equipped with computers, electronic blackboards and other environmentally friendly technology. But even the upgrade has its setbacks.
“Yeah, the Smartboard. It can be hard,” said fifth-grade student Cimara Crews. “You have to figure out how to hook it up to the computers and how to use the pen and stuff.”
Yet, one of the things students were most impressed by: its name.
Barack Obama Elementary School is the fourth elementary school in the country and the first in the State of Ohio to bear the president’s name—a name that was chosen by a student in the Maple Heights school district.
“It’s great,” said fifth-grade student Deana Lindsey. “It’s the first black president, and I think it’s a great name to be named that.”
For now, students are happy to soak it all in, as the new school is the perfect way to state the New Year, said Devin Michael Capps, a fifth-grade student.
“We got cupboards and computers. It’s really cool,” Capps said. “We were really psyched we were going here. I really like this building, and I think it would be an honor for everybody to come check out our school.”