Sheldon, Iowa — An expansion and renovation project at Sheldon Christian School that was about three years in the making, was officially completed Wednesday morning when a Dedication Ceremony was held at the school.
Students, parents, faculty and staff all took part in the Dedication Ceremony, which was held in front of the building and began at 9:30 Wednesday morning.
Sheldon Christian School Principal Marlin Schoonhoven says that, in addition to a large expansion to the south side of the building, the project included renovation of the existing school building, as well.
(As above) “The only thing that hasn’t been touched is the gym, which that was actually repainted, and a little bit of remodel about ten years ago, I believe is what I got. But, everything else in the school has been updated…whether that’s new ceilings, a new sprinkler system, new paint, new carpet in every classroom…every hallway, every classroom has been updated.”
Schoonhoven talked about what is housed in the building’s new addition.
(As above) “We have a brand new entrance with security..a secured entrance, and then our Secretary’s Office and the Administrator’s Office are in right the southeast corner of the main entrance. And then we have an entry/visiting area, and we have a library, an open library..no doors..it’s very inviting. When you walk in the south entrance and look to your left it’s an open library concept. And then we have a preschool classroom and a kindergarten classroom that face the south road, as well.”
He tells us that in 1949, Sheldon Christian School buried a time capsule that was recently opened, and he describes what they found inside.
(As above) “We had a time capsule from 1949 that was opened and shown, and it was a lot of the classrooms…all the names of the students in the classrooms signed their names to those papers and documents from 1949 before they put it into the capsule, and had some board minutes put in there (as well).”
Schoonhoven says it was decided to bury a 2020 time capsule as part of Wednesday’s dedication ceremony, and talked about some of the things it contained.
(As above) “We had all the classes sign the paper of their class and what year it was. We’re putting a couple of pieces of information from minutes of, obviously, the establishment of the project and then the completion of the project. We’re putting a couple of things, obviously with COVID going on we’re going to put a mask in there so that we can be reminded. And we’re putting a cell phone in there.”
In addition, he says they’re including a copy of the school Handbook for people to see fifty or more years from now when the time capsule is opened.
Planning for the project began in late 2017, according to former Principal Pete VanVelzen. A fundraising effort was commenced in 2018, with construction staring in the spring of last year.
Sheldon Christian School Principal Marlin Schoonhoven is in his first year at the helm of the Sheldon school, and was previously a teacher/administrator at the Ireton Christian School. VanVelzen retired at the end of the last school year.
Below are some images from Wednesday’s Dedication, as well as interior photos of the new addition…………………..
Principal Marlin Schoonhoven speaks to the crowd
Principal Schoonhoven and former School Board Member Tom Wibben eye the site where the time capsule will be buried
Former Principal Pete VanVelzen (in brown shirt at right) addresses the students and parents
Here are a few images from inside the new addition at Sheldon Christian School………….
