L-B offers alumni tours of new campus

FINDLAY — While attendance was light at a Liberty-Benton Schools tour Monday morning — perhaps because of the cold, biting winds — the alumni who came asked thoughtful questions and shared their own fond memories of the school. The district offered tours of the new campus over the holiday break, aimed at alumni who might be in town visiting family. Six individuals attended Monday morning. The tour was also repeated later in the day, and some individuals who had a schedule conflict had come the previous week. A grand opening celebration of the new campus was held in August 2023. Brenda Frankart, director of federal programs and curriculum, said multiple alumni who live locally have told her they missed that event but would love to see the campus. Knowing that other alumni live out of state, she and Superintendent Bruce Otley planned the tours. It's part of an overall effort Frankart is leading to build a stronger alumni network. Showing off the campus to visitors Monday morning, Otley said the district had taken pains to preserve school history. For example, a commemorative wall includes original bricks from the 1921 school building. Four-foot-tall letters spelling out the school's name were taken from the former gymnasium floor, and now adorn a wall in the gymnasium in the new building. Preserving the old gymnasium floor was particularly meaningful because the 1995 boys' basketball team, which was undefeated the entire season, had played on that floor, Frankart said. "I came in '99. I'd heard all these stories about the '95 team. And the class of '95 had a lot of amazing people in it that are still super supportive to this day," she said. "But in 1995, that gym was so tiny that the community members were upset because they couldn't even get in the gym to watch the game, because it was always sold out." The bulk of Monday's tour focused on the new elementary and middle school building. The district had educated grades K-12 in one building until growth made that impossible. Voters approved a bond to establish a new high school in February 1994, and an open house ceremony was held at this standalone building in December 1995. This left grades K-8 in a different building across the street until the construction of the new building, created after voters approved a bond measure in 2019. Otley said the district built the 800-seat performing arts center in the new building after realizing they needed a larger and better space than the high school cafetorium. Along with student productions, the center also has a variety of other uses, such as offering a space for teacher training. In the performing arts center is a guitar constructed by longtime band director Tom Holben, also from wood from the old gymnasium floor. Otley noted that security features included film making it harder to see through the windows and cameras allowing school secretaries to monitor locations throughout the campus. A "learning commons" at the end of each wing provides space for different grade levels to collaborate. Otley told tour attendees that he had originally intended to show visitors the new 15-bay bus garage and the elementary playground, but opted against it given the weather. The tour also included a visit to the field house, which offers Liberty-Benton athletes an indoor space for batting practice as well as a dedicated space for wrestling. Otley said field house construction was funded through donors contributing to a capital campaign. Like the performing arts center, the field house also is used for multiple purposes, Frankart said. For example, elementary school students may go there for recess if the weather makes it impossible to have recess outdoors, and the high school students celebrate after prom there. The district made some renovations to the high school while building the new elementary and middle school building. The high school was a briefer portion of Monday's tour, but visitors stopped by the library and cafeteria. They also saw a display wall of photographs and dog tags from Liberty-Benton alumni who had served in the military, a project which had been created by students. Frankart has worked for the district for 27 years, the majority of that time as the high school principal. Among the projects she recently began in her current position was the building of an alumni network. Frankart said she wants alumni to understand "this is still their home," even if the school may look different than it did in their day. As a county school rather than one centered around a specific town, "we really feel like the school is the community," she said. She hopes that strengthening the connection with alumni will help current students as they explore career opportunities and look for mentors. Even alumni who live out of state could give a presentation via Zoom to a class on their area of expertise, she said. She has been asking alumni from all eras to submit their information and photographs via an online form at www.liberty-benton.org/alumni Frankart said growing the network has been "slow and steady," but she gets positive responses each time she shares alumni stories and photographs on social media. The alumni may mention who their favorite teachers were and, regardless of how long ago they graduated or when those teachers may have retired, other alumni often chime in too with their own memories. Not long ago, she saw an alum who was excited, upon visiting campus, to find that elementary school principal Brian Burkett remembered them. "That just made their day," she said.