Brand-new Almira School rises from the ashes

ALMIRA — It was an emotional moment Thursday as the new Almira School was unveiled to the community.

The school gym was packed, with a crowd of about 350 people almost shoulder to shoulder. Almira School District Superintendent Dan Read led the crowd in the first flag salute in the new building, then spoke about the outpouring of support the tiny district had received.

“Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, 22 months ago, 680 days ago, our beloved school burned to the ground,” Read said. “Early next morning, our entire staff along with the Odessa school board members and leaders at the ESD met up at Almira Community Center. We rolled up our sleeves and figured out how to get our students back to school. By afternoon that same day, literally hundreds of people reached out to offer their help. By that evening, we had Chromebooks secured for remote learning and space dedicated for temporary classrooms.”

Classes resumed a week later, Read said, in borrowed space at the community center, Almira Community Church and Coulee-Hartline district schools.

“Winter months flew by in our temporary classrooms,” Read said. “Well, they didn't really fly by, but they went by, and spring brought us to our new portables on campus located on the football field. Our middle school students quickly labeled the new campus ‘The Yard.’ I can't tell you how happy we are to be out of the portable classrooms and into our new school.”

Ken Murphy, a principal with ASCE Architects, which designed the new school, likened the process to an old-fashioned barn-raising.

“Most of the projects that we've done, it's probably three and a half years to open a new school,” Murphy said. “To condense that into 22 months, certainly everyone probably was under pressure to make that happen. But at the same time, (there was a) commitment and dedication to not cut corners … We needed to create a facility that was going to be a treasure for this community.”

The new school is certainly a step up. According to principal Kelsey Hoppe, the building is larger than the old one by more than 13,000 square feet and has five more classrooms and more office spaces. Almira School houses both Almira Elementary School, which is pre-K-5, and Almira/Coulee-Hartline Middle School for grades six through eight.

Several speakers acknowledged that the reconstruction couldn’t have been done without the leadership of Gene Simenti, who managed the Almira School Rebuild project.

“On the night of the fire I made a call to Dr. (Michael) Dunn at the ESD for help,” Read said. “Dr. Dunn quickly arranged the support of Dr. Gene Sementi. Gene had recently retired as superintendent from West Valley School District in Spokane. (He) thought he was retiring. That didn't happen. Twenty-two months later, he is here making our new school possible.”

Sementi took the podium and thanked a long list of people and organizations that made the new school possible. Then he handed it over to Associated Student Body President Mallory Isaak and Vice President Savannah Monson, who read the names of individual donors.

Almira School Board President Cameron Carstensen, a fourth-generation Almira alumnus whose children attend the school, choked up audibly when he spoke.

“I want to thank the Lord Almighty for the dream team that was put together to make this facility,” he said. “You guys hit it out of the park. And, you know, we're gonna make the big time where we're at, right here. This can be the big time for our kids, the next generations. And I’ve got to thank the kids who went through what they went through. It's truly incredible.”

“It's very beautiful,” said Isaak as she helped hand out class schedules at the open house following the presentations. “We're so blessed to get this. It's been challenging but with our community, it's been a blessing. Everybody is so kind and gracious. They’re all so giving. It's been awesome.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.