The WSU School of Design and Construction just got a major upgrade. Classroom 212 in Carpenter Hall had an opening ribbon-cutting ceremony that brought in enough attendees to fill the room on Jan 22.
Professor Darhl Edwards said this had been the first new classroom for as long as he could remember.
“It’s like a new toy, everyone loves getting to use it,” Edwards said.
The construction students have the opportunity to join a competition team that competes in Reno, Nevada. While preparing for the competition, the students were excited to try out this new, exciting classroom.
The classroom was fully funded by donors Prime Electric and McDonald Miller, who came to support. Because of the donors’ generosity, there is new equipment, TVs and more to improve the learning and experience for the students.
About $150,000 was given by the donors to cover the cost of the classroom, equipment and labor.
“I think this classroom might be one of the best, most advanced classrooms on the campus,” Edwards said.
This classroom is an incredible way to bring students together. They can perform practice competitions, give presentations and spend time in community in this new classroom. Edwards said some of the students were a little nervous to use the space because of the updates.
Everybody somewhat dreaded using the room because the audio was terrible, the video was terrible and it was not up to par for general use, according to some students.
This upgrade came as an exciting surprise for students like the president of the Visual Design and Construction (VDC) club, Erin Hazen.
“I didn’t know it was going to be renovated and walking into that room was very cool with the high tech in the room,” Hazen said. “I was thinking, ‘Wow, when did this happen?’ This is so cool.”
She knows that this room has already been and will continue to be a big part of the students’ learning in the SDC program. Through the donors, friends, companies and overall connections made, the whole construction world seems to be connected by just a classroom.
“It made me feel like a part of something bigger,” Hazen said.
Junior Camden Howard talked about how helpful it was to have the industry professionals and an incredible alumni network to help guide and grow the students.
“Its nice to hear how much they care about us, overall support was phenomenal,” Howard said.
Professors look forward to their classes in this new learning hub and students look forward to learning and growing their skills because of it. The new upgrade is already serving students well and will continue to set future students ahead as they have an upgraded way to learn and work together to create some incredible work.
