The old VF Mall in Lebanon is now ready to help teach the next generation of students.
The renovated and innovative space is the Robert W. Plaster Center for Student Success.
The Lebanon School District purchased the building years ago, and once school starts next week, it will be the new home for some of the districts most specialized programs.
Collaboration between the school district, the City of Lebanon, area medical providers, Ozarks Tech, and the Plaster Family as well as a number of grants helped turn the building into what it is today.
The main section of the building is for high school programs like the medical and business Schools of Discovery, biomedical science and teaching courses, a medical simulation lab, and the Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Professional Studies, or GOCAPS.
These programs set students up for a better future where they’ve already explored a number of career options in a very in-depth way.
“We are seeking, in this facility,” said Lebanon superintendent David Schmitz, “to create an environment where students are not just learning reading, writing, and math, but they are having the opportunity to rub elbows with healthcare professionals, industry leaders because if we wait until they walk across the stage in high school from graduation, sometimes and often times, that’s too late.”
Even with all of those programs, the 102,000 square foot building isn’t done yet.
Only half of the building is fully constructed. There is another half that the district is leaving open so it can add even more programs based on student interest and needs.
“I appreciate that we’re able to do that rather than just say, ‘Well, we have to go in this direction or this direction,’” said Lebanon High School principal Kati O’Quinn. “We’re really going to look at what are the programs that are needing the most attention for space or for flexibility, what do we see out in our community, what are the opportunities beyond high school looking like for students that maybe we need to build some programming or some space for? I think that’s the name of the game is we’re going to be continuing to watch what programs need the most support and see what happens next.”
Through these programs, students make their own schedules week by week, teaching them lessons outside of their chosen subject.
“That responsibility for a high school student is really interesting,” O’Quinn said, “but they’ve really taken it, and they’ve ran with it. The very first year that we did the Schools of Discovery, that was the one thing that our students just kept coming back to us with is it’s hard, but it’s so worth it because the time management skills that they build within that year that they were there, are going to prepare them for college, for the workplace.”
The Center for Student Success is ready to open when school starts on August 25.
