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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2016)
Polk County Education Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 2, 2016 15A Planning underway for kitchen upgrades By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Peter Pan (Jeppie Johnson), second from right, plans his next move with the soon-to-be “Lost Boys” in a scene from LaCreole Middle School’s production of “Tick Tock.” The musical runs Friday and Saturday at the school. A time before Neverland LaCreole Middle School’s musical ‘Tick Tock’ tells Peter Pan back story By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Ever wonder how Peter Pan’s Lost Boys became the Lost Boys? Or why Peter loves to an- tagonize Captain Hook? Or why Peter and Tinker Bell are so close in the origi- nal story? LaCreole Middle School’s spring musical “Tick Tock,” a prequel to the story of the boy who doesn’t age, an- swers those questions and more. “This is the back story to how Neverland became Neverland,” said eighth- grader Kade Metzger, who plays Capt. James Hook. “Tick Tock” takes the stage at the school on Friday and Saturday. The beginning of the play finds Tinker Bell, Captain JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer Peter (Jeppie Johnson) and Tinker Bell (Rachael Ruman) sing a duet during a scene in “Tick Tock.” Hook’s daughter, and Peter innocently flirting. “Tinker Bell is a highly spirited girl who really loves Peter and wants him to feel the same way about her,” said Rachael Ruman, who plays Tinker Bell. Needless to say, Hook isn’t too happy about their bud- ding romance. He’s so angry that he en- lists the “evil witch” to cast a spell to break them up. Thus begins the first es- capade of the classic ene- mies. “He’s kind of good and bad,” Kade said of Hook. “He is angry, but he’s definitely overprotective of Tinker Bell.” For his part, Peter em- ploys a crew of Hook’s ship hands, soon-to-be known as the “Lost Boys,” to spy on the captain’s every move. “Tick Tock” is based on a book by Mitch Garrison with music by Katie Kibota. Fans of the original Peter Pan story said they like de- tails revealed in the prequel musical. See TICK TOCK, Page 14A DALLAS — Construction on new multipurpose rooms at Oakdale Heights a n d Ly l e e l e m e n t a r y schools in Dallas is slated to begin this summer. At its meeting Feb. 22, the Dallas School Board got a first glimpse of what the additions, which will dou- ble as kitchens and cafete- rias, will look like during a presentation from architect AC + Co. At both schools, the mul- tipurpose rooms will re- place the gyms as the loca- tion for lunch service and sorely outdated kitchens. Facilities Manager Kevin Montague said when the updates were first dis- cussed, the plan wasn’t to move the kitchens. The more he and building prin- cipals looked at how space was being used compared to other schools, the more the idea made sense. “If we are going to be doing this — doing up- grades in the kitchen, which we need — let’s go a little bit further and put the kitchen where it belongs, and that is where we serve the kids,” Montague said. He said increasing re- quirements for physical ed- ucation class time also played into the decisions. “If you ask the principals, they will tell you it’s actually impossible to meet the P.E. requirements that are com- ing with our current situa- tion,” he said. Montague said kitchen equipment across the dis- trict is on the verge of fail- ing or becoming impossi- ble to repair because parts are no longer made. Richard Rothweiler, a senior architect with AC + Co., said the construction project will take care of both problems of ineffi- ciently used space and fail- ing equipment. “All the equipment will be brand new and up-to- date, energy efficient, of the right size, and of the right capacity so everything could be handled correct- ly,” he said. Oakdale’s multipurpose room will be built where the covered play area is now, using the existing roof and side walls. A new covered play area will be built on the play- ground. The old kitchens in both schools will be converted into classroom space, and other areas will be remod- eled for P.E. offices, equip- ment storage and other uses. At Lyle, the addition will be located in the space be- tween the gym and covered play area. The design allows the school to open the gym and/or multipurpose room to the public for events while closing off access to the rest of the school. Both schools will have their front entrances re- modeled to add extra secu- rity. Rothweiler said a sec- ond set of doors will be added to restrict access to the buildings. “You can exit, but you won’t be able to get in un- less you are buzzered in,” Rothweiler said. Cost estimates for the work haven’t been penciled out yet, but Rothweiler said he wants to work quickly to get the projects out to bid. He said construction com- panies are increasingly busy, and that means costs are going up. “If there’s any indication in our office, we are the busiest we’ve been in 10 years. Everybody is build- ing,” he said. “We are work- ing really hard to get these things out to bid right away for start of this summer construction.”
