THE GROUNDBREAKING for the
BENCHMARK INNOVATION SPACE!
On Friday, March 16, the temperature was just above freezing, but there were warm smiles all around as students, staff, alumni, and parents joined Benchmark trustees, local government officials, and the Innovation Space design build team for a rousing Groundbreaking Ceremony on the playground in front of the Dorrance H. Hamilton Middle School building. The large crowd was exuberant as all 181 students crowded onto the field wearing yellow hard hats, and everyone listened enthusiastically to inspiring words from Trustee Chair Beth Goodhart and Head of School Robb Gaskins.
View a video here!
The Benchmark Innovation Space will provide an ideal environment for our students to learn to thrive in a complex and ever-changing world. It will present our students with a dynamic, hands-on, and interdisciplinary learning environment filled with a rich assortment of digital and physical tools, from duct tape to robots and 3D printers, to explore, design, and create, while honing their skills related to critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creative problem solving, and leadership.
The Innovation Space will house two main areas, one for lower school students and one for middle school students. The middle school space will be built on the area known as Atterbury Plaza, which is the patio next to the A. Palmer West Performing Arts Center. The lower school space will be built below the middle school space, staying within the building’s current footprint.
Benchmark is halfway to its goal of $2 million to fund the project! We look forward to members of the Benchmark community helping us make that goal a reality. For more information,
click here or contact Louisa Hanshew at 610-565-3741, ext. 150 or
LouisaHanshew@BenchmarkSchool.org.
TOP PHOTO: Robb Gaskins and the students can't help but smile as they learn that construction on the Benchmark Innovation Space has begun!
BOTTOM PHOTO: Taking part in the Groundbreaking Ceremony are (front row) Chris Harder, Jennifer Clay, and Bill Cumby, Jr., all from W.S. Cumby Builders & Construction Managers, Rosella Harvey, NorthStar Owners Rep, Bill Cumby, Sr., PA State Senator Tom McGarrigle, Trustee Chair Beth Goodhart, Head of School Robb Gaskins, Trustees Jim Viner and Wendi Chase, BPA President Suzanne Heckendorn, and (back row) Daryn Edwards, Cicada Architects, Tim Broadhurst, Chairman of Upper Providence Commissioners, Delaware County Councilman Kevin Madden, and Kurt Raymond, Cicada Architects.
