On Sunday March 21st, RB held a dedication ceremony to celebrate the completion of the $52 million renovation. Anyone in the RB community was welcome to attend the event which was held in the recently completed new auditorium.
The ceremonial ribbon was cut on the auditorium stage by Interim Principal Tim Scanlon and school board president James Marciniak. Members of Student Association and faculty were invited on stage to help hold the ribbon. The RB choir, band and orchestra were also present on stage to do musical interludes throughout the ceremony.
Student Association Executive Board members Stephanie Duve and Zeyne Guzeldereli gave speeches about their experiences during the renovation period. Scanlon, as well as Assistant Principal John Passarella and some of the head construction workers who worked on the project, also gave speeches.
Passarella gave his speech commemorating his predecessor Bill Lehotsky, who passed away from cancer this past year. Room 201, one of the newly renovated rooms in the building, was dedicated to Lehotsky in honor of his memory.
SA Student President Kelly Sherman also put together items for a time capsule that will be used to show a future generation of RB students what the school was like at this time. The time capsule will be stored between walls in student services and will be opened in 50 years.
Some of the items in the capsule include: playbills, a lunch menu, state universities at a glance, a cheerleading uniform, a pom pom, a homecoming party favor, a community of caring key chain, an RB flag, a yearbook, and a recent hard copy issue of the Clarion.
“I was honored to be able to put together the time capsule,” said Sherman, “These items exemplify the RB community today.”
After the official ceremony took place in the auditorium, interested community members were led on tours by students who showed them the best features of the renovation. This included the reconstructed science labs, the new community accessible fitness center, the reconstructed swimming pool and the redesigned cafeteria kitchen and serving area.
