By: Neko Baker and Olivia McGuire

One hundred and sixty seven years, six buildings, an explosion, a ghost and currently through a complete renovation, Springfield High School has, and will, remain on top. Through many years of facing adversity and change, SHS’s staff and students have never backed down from a challenge and we cannot start now. 

Beginning at the end of last year, Adam Knoles, the Superintendent for the renovation project, explains ,“We first got on-sight the day that school ended last year.” Undergoing these intense renovations prove to be the best option for Springfield High School, financially, since continuing to maintain the original building would have been more expensive than building a new school. 

Discussion occurred about creating a whole new building on district-owned land on the west side of Springfield, but, as Jeffrey Lightfoot, a history teacher, states, “They held a lot of community meetings about it but, as a lesson in civics, the people who showed up wanted it to stay here and everyone complaining about not going out there never showed up to the meetings, so it’s here.” Unlike what some may think, if they decided to build a new school on the west side, they would not have torn the current building down due to its rich history. Instead, it would have housed a different program or district offices as preservation. 

Despite this, SHS students and staff remain grateful that the school will stay in this building. Rachel Becker, a junior, claims “I kind of appreciate the charm of our school because it is like really old, you know. Like they better not make it into a sterile, hospital-like building.” Luckily, this is not the case.


SHS has a committee that meets with the architects and the O’Shea Builder’s supervisor to form a plan to make everything work, it’s trial and error. This year, the construction workers will mostly work on the first floor, boys side. By the middle of this school year, some areas they have been working on should be finished. But until then, Rachel Becker warns students, “Be careful, you know, don’t let a wire fall on you.” 

A change seen by SHS students and staff right now is the introduction of mobiles. Claire Mazrim, a junior, enjoys her two classes in the mobile, stating, “Right now, they are literally nicer than our school.” Eventually, teachers in the mobiles will move back into the building and the third and second-floor teachers will move into the mobiles. 

Before these changes come to fruition, SHS students and staff are facing more changes than just the mobiles. Mr. Lightfoot moved from the third floor to the second floor. He explains that although he had little say in where he moved, he volunteered himself to change rooms so he did not separate a whole department. Along with this, walking in the hallways can become difficult because of crowding. Mr. Knoles explains that the workers graciously come early and stay late to avoid making distracting noises during the workday. Along with this, the construction workers are instructed to get out of the way when students are present. Mr. Lightfoot states, “It’s exciting- you have to focus on the end result rather than the struggles to get there.” Now, male Senators only have two bathrooms in the main building available for use, both of them being on the first floor and a third inside the mobile. This is predicted to change at some point in the second semester. Mr. Lightfoot explains, “For the first time in the history of this building, we will have men’s and women’s bathrooms on the same side.” The second-floor storage rooms, current bathrooms and some locker areas will be destroyed and used to create a men’s, women’s and gender-neutral restroom. Eventually, these three bathrooms will be on both sides of each floor. 

(Photo courtesy of Neko Baker)

Another change SHS students and staff have seen is the new ways of entry in the mornings and with the gymnasium. The metal detectors are outside the doors making the line continue outside the school’s doors. When everything is finished, the math wing will be on the first floor, the history wing and the foreign language wing will be on the second floor and the third floor will be English and special education. The gym will be completely separate for a while, once they destroy the annex, RIP. Eventually, a new gym will be built on the Monroe side, which is where the bulk of the construction is happening. The current gym will be torn down and then a whole new wing with five rooms across and three floors will be built in the back of the building. They will be mostly classrooms, except for a second-floor room that will be a scene shop for plays and musicals. Mr. Lightfoot is looking forward to the new building, explaining he has never taught in a new building.

(Photo courtesy of sps186.org)

Aside from the physical changes, the school will receive new lockers and new desks for each student and classroom. The desks came in early, so some larger rooms already have them and the rest of the rooms will get the desks after renovations. Mr. Lightfoot is looking forward to having more space to walk around and, hopefully, power like heating and cooling running consistently- some of our biggest issues. The administrators are trying to minimize how students are affected as much as possible, but, as Brian Barnes, an administrator, explains “at the same time there are not many ways around some problems.” 

Winning the City Tournament Spirit Award year after year only proves that SHS is not short on spirit. Despite the changes the school, students and staff are facing, it is no question that spirit will stay high. A major aspect of SHS is its rich history which will be maintained by a hall-of-fame outside of the main entrance exhibiting museum-like displays. Mr. Lightfoot explains “Spirit-wise, I think the student body will be up to the task.” He add, “This school has always been a source of pride because of its history but at the same time, I think in a new way the new school will be a source of pride, as well. Having a good, actual state-of-the-art school will be cool for the last few years I’ll teach.”

Pride is not the only ‘spirit’ SHS contains. Referred to as ‘Rachel,’ the school’s ghost, may have made a new friend. Another tombstone, similar to that of Rachel’s was discovered amidst the construction since the school is built atop an old cemetery. Unlike Rachel’s, whose did not include indications of a name, the initials on this new tombstone may be all it takes to discover whose it is.

(Photo courtesy of Ben Kramer)