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Photo by Hans Hallgren

Bekah Bolton, 3, far right, gets a ride from her father, John Bolton, on Saturday during one of the tours of Craig Middle School.

Photo by Hans Hallgren

Joel Sheridan, Moffat County School District construction liaison, introduces himself to a group of people during a walk-through tour Saturday at Craig Middle School. Tour guides talked about the technological innovations at the school including SMART boards and wireless Internet access.

Although Craig Middle School construction is only one-third complete, on Saturday, the halls were packed.

Future students, teachers, parents, and administrators filled the halls of the sixth-grade wing of the new building.

Groups of 10 and 15 people shuffled through the new school building, which is scheduled to open in August.

The new building will house sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students.

If there wasn't plastic covering the carpet or empty rooms, the sixth grade pod would look nearly finished. One 900-square-foot classroom was packed with desks, but every other room was empty.

Each feature of the new rooms holds a purpose.

The windows, which look like an upside-down U, are shaped that way to give teachers more wall space, and provide as much natural light as possible without flooding the room, said Joel Sheridan, Moffat County School District construction liaison. If enough sunlight comes through the windows, the lights in the room will dim automatically, he said.

If a teacher forgets to turn off the lights in one of the classrooms, the motion detectors will shut them off automatically.

"These are all features to try to save as much energy as possible," Sheridan said. "The faucets and toilets are controlled by motion sensors - all to conserve water."

In the cafeteria, main entrance and art room, the ceiling has been left exposed. The pipes and support beams are left that way for a reason, Sheridan said.

"When people from Denver think of this area, they think about Dinosaur National Monument," he said. "The beams are exposed like dinosaur bones, and that's on purpose."

Leila Steele, Craig Intermediate School math and science teacher, will be moving to one of the new science rooms next year.

"It's very positive - the colors, designs," she said. "This space is open and inviting."

The sixth-grade science classrooms are connected, with only a supply room separating them. Steele said the open design was purposeful.

"Because of the way the rooms are laid out it encourages more teamwork between the teachers," she said.

The sixth-grade science rooms don't have gas or chemicals, but there are multiple sinks and plenty of storage space - things Steele said she would need.

"Now, we'll be able to have experiments before every class and be able to clean up, and move on with our lesson," she said.

The new space will allow Steele to incorporate a wider range of topics.

"I think most of the lessons will be carried over, but there will be an expansion in earth sciences."

Craig Middle School principal Bill Toovey was one of the tour guides for the day.

"The classrooms have a capacity of 30 students, but most will only have 25 or 26," Toovey said.

The new building also will feature wireless Internet access and SMART boards.

"Everywhere there's technology to help the teachers with new interactive lessons," he said.

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 875-1795 or bbulkeley@craigdailypress.com