BOONE
Emily Haas, a rising 11th-grader at Watauga High School, started her high-school career in the old Watauga High at 400 High School Drive.
Yesterday, she was one of the throng at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new high school at 300 Go Pioneers Drive.
"I think it's going to be a big change, but change is good and we really need it," she said.
The move across town is a big change for Emily and the more than 1,300 students who will start at the new Watauga High School on Aug. 11. The school replaces the old school, which was built in 1965.
And the new school has features undreamed of 45 years ago.
The $79.5 million campus includes 101 classrooms, most with Smartboards, white electronic boards that have replaced the old dry-erase boards and chalkboards. Wireless connections are available throughout the main building's three stories and three wings.
Emily said she's excited about a new initiative that provides a laptop computer to every student.
"I think it's going to help us prepare for the future," she said.
Several hundred people attended a ribbon-cutting yesterday, under bright, sunny skies, with the Watauga Community Band playing rousing tunes. Speakers introduced dozens of dignitaries, including Gov. Bev Perdue.
"It's a new world in which we live and that economy will be defined by what's learned in buildings like this across America," Perdue said.
The school is on the former Edmisten family farm on the eastern side of Boone in the Perkinsville area, with views of rolling, wooded mountains.
Perdue pointed out former attorney general and secretary of state Rufus Edmisten in the crowd, and talked about how the place used to be his parent's farm.
"A century ago, 50 years ago, nobody could have dreamed this would be the best school in North Carolina and one of the best schools in America," Perdue said.
Watauga County Schools Superintendent Marty Hemric told students that the celebration was for them.
"Students, today is all about you, as it always is," he said.
A 2003 forum to discuss options for the aging school included such ideas as renovating the old school, building two new high schools or moving the 9th grade to a separate school.
There were years of discussions, and some strong opposition to a new high school, with controversies over how expensive it all was and where the county was putting it. But in 2007, school-board members and county commissioners agreed on the plan and approved a preliminary site plan.
"We have dreamed and dreamed and dreamed of what our high school should be and what our students should be offered and what our staff and faculty should be working in," said County Commissioner Chairman Jim Deal. "This is the fulfillment of that dream."
Among those introduced yesterday was Brenda Reese, the widow of the late school-board chairman Andy Reese, who did much work on the new high-school dream. He died last December.
When the speeches were over and the ribbon was cut, Emily and fellow students, including Kellyn Stamey, Patrick Williamson, Alana Patterson and Brittany Burwell, offered guided tours.
Kellyn, a freshman, will start her high-school career in the new school.
"I am excited because all of the facilities are brand new," she said. "I think the students are going to have the opportunity to learn in new spaces."
mmitchell@wsjournal.com
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