E AST O REGONIAN
LIFESTYLES
WEEKEND, JaNuary 12, 2019
McNary Heights
second-graders run
around their new
gym Wednesday to
warm up for class.
Staff photos by Kathy Aney
MUSTANGS LOOSE IN
NEW GYM
McNary Heights
adds space with new
facility
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
In their first week in the new
gymnasium, McNary Heights
Elementary
students
are
already using the extra space to
their advantage.
They stood in the four cor-
ners of the large room, in the
circles painted onto the floor,
for a game called “Keeper of
the Castle.” Each team had one
player run to the center and try
to grab a toy, without getting
tagged by the “keepers,” and
run back to the circle.
“It’s a big gym,” said P.E.
teacher Brandt Lind. “Let’s see
what happens with this game.”
One student named Josue
thought he had figured out the
key to winning the game.
“I’ll distract them with
my dance moves,” the sec-
ond-grader said, kicking his
feet back and forth as he waited
for his next turn.
The students were enjoying
one of their first P.E. classes
in a new gym, the result of a
$10.5 million bond that paid
for upgrades at the Umatilla
School District’s three schools.
Other improvements from the
bond include secure entrances
and security cameras at all
three schools, as well as new
HVAC systems.
The building is completely
new. Crews broke ground on it
last June, and were just putting
the finishing touches on it as
students came back from win-
ter break this week. The new
building features the McNary
Mustangs’ green and yellow
colors prominently, a group of
mustangs painted on the center
of the floor, and has a row of
bleachers for parents to come
and watch games or assemblies.
Lind said he’s delighted
with the new facility, and said
the students are already taking
ownership of it.
“If I see a black scuff mark
on the floor, I’ll stop to wipe it,
and I’m seeing kids doing that,”
he said. “Or they’ll tell me they
wore white-soled shoes so they
won’t mess up the floor.”
Lind said the new building,
which is bigger and has higher
ceilings than the old one, is a
more comfortable environment
for gym class.
“It circulates air a lot better,
it’s not stuffy,” he said. “The
kids’ senses are on fire when
they come in here. They smell
the varnished floor, they see
the colors, they love the mus-
tangs in the center of the floor.”
The gym has basketball
and volleyball lines, as well as
agility ladders and circles for
group activities painted on the
floor — things for which Lind
would have previously had
to use masking tape or traffic
cones.
The new gym was a solu-
tion to another problem the
school had run into: an over-
flowing cafeteria.
“Our original plan was to
build a standalone cafeteria
here,” said McNary principal
Rick Cotterell. “We were way
overcrowded.”
But after looking at prices,
the district discovered that
the cost of building a new
cafeteria, including a new
kitchen, would be too much
McNary Heights second-graders race around their new gym Wednesday in a spirited game of tag.
for their budget. So instead,
they decided to use the exist-
ing gym, which sits next to the
cafeteria, to accommodate stu-
dents during lunch, and build a
new gymnasium.
The additional space will
give the school opportunities
to expand their activities both
during and after school.
Lind said the space will
allow them to play games
they’d usually have to go out-
side for, like soccer.
Cotterell said they will still
continue using the old gym, but
having two spaces will let them
have more activities.
“Youth basketball always
uses our facilities,” he said.
“Those kids practice 5:30 to 9,
and with two times the space,
we can have two teams practice
at the same time and maybe get
them home earlier.”
He said the extra space will
also be useful for their expand-
ing after-school STEM (Sci-
ence, Technology, Engineering
and Math) program.
As the students tore around
the room playing another game
of tag, Lind asked them to line
up for the next activity.
A sign hanging in the new
McNary Heights gym lists
expectations of students.
“Are you tired?” he asked
the second-graders.
“No!” They yelled.
“You’re never tired,” Lind
replied.
Cotterell said he’s happy to
have the new space for the kids.
“It’s so fun to watch their
faces,” he said. “It’s been really
fun to build some of these new
features.”