BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
When the renovated and expanded cafeteria at Stanhope Elmore High is ready for students next school year, you can expect a lot of changes. But they are all good.
It certainly will not be the same cafeteria that the students and parents were used to, or even recent graduates.
Bigger, better, modern.
Over 1,100 students a year have used this cafeteria in recent years. Currently the area is closed off to the public as the major renovation and expansion happens alongside the regular operations of the school each day.
Gone are the tiny cafeteria seats! If you ever visited the cafeteria for a function, you understand this. They were better suited for elementary children than high schoolers or adults.
There will be a coffee bar! There will be multiple televisions throughout hooked up to news or educational programs.
“We are really excited about this, not just because of all the new elements, but this cafeteria was way overdo for improvements,” SEHS Principal Ewell Fuller said. “We are so appreciative to the Board of Education and Supt. Richard Dennis for this possibility.”
For now, all meals are prepared at the old Robinson Springs School cafeteria and delivered to SEHS.
“It is a work in progress, but I credit everyone who has just rolled with the challenges, staff and students alike. I think people understand how much better this will be, and we just have to work through the construction,” Fuller said. “The students, the staff, the Child Nutrition Program have all been extremely patient, and just worked through this. We are truly blessed.”
Other areas of the school are also getting a facelift, including old band and theatre areas, and the old gymnasium. The band and choral students now operate out of the brand new building dedicated to all things music.
This building has many new features including a piano and guitar room and much more storage for uniforms and equipment.
Now, the theater students will get their own area for productions, rehearsals and more storage.
“Our theatre department has really taken on new life, with so many new participants. We love the arts at SEHS, and this is going to bring so many more opportunities,” Fuller said.
An exact time frame for the completed work is not specific, but it will be in the early parts of the next school year.
“So, right now we have to work around some noise and dust issues, but I promise you, it is all going to be worth it,” Fuller said.
