Letter to the Editor: Thanks for Decorah HS building

(Decorah High School student Lindsay Elsbernd has submitted the following Letter to the Editor):

"Here at Decorah High School, the bar of standards is set fairly high. We strive to be the best at sports and academics, and now to have the best facilities as well. Over the past few years, our school has undergone a complete remodel from floor to ceiling. This renovation included adding a new gymnasium and creating a larger cafeteria.

In the fall of 2010, residents of Decorah and the Decorah Board of Education voted to renovate the school with a $20.7 million budget. Construction started in the spring of 2011.  By the fall semester of 2013 the new school was completely ready for students to learn, minus a few finishing touches. The class of 2017 was the first class to attend all four years in the new high school.
 
Many of the current students who go through the school don't see the facility as a new, state-of-the-art building. Some see the building as crummy, although it is far from it. Even I have been guilty of thinking that our high school is bland, even cheap in some areas.

Recently, I visited another school in a nearby area to participate in a physics competition. I was shocked by what I saw there. The school was old and small, and the bathrooms stunk like sewer. At that moment I realized just how wonderful our school really is. The students at DHS who know no other school besides the one we currently have taken this new facility for granted, myself included. Not knowing what the old school was like, it is easy to not realize how fantastic our new school is.

I am extremely grateful for those who voted to make the renovations happen. It is not often that towns are able to get the funds to make changes to schools that need it. If DHS students could see other schools and compare them to ours, they would see just how lucky we are to have this beautiful Decorah High School."