New era for Ten Sleep, but don't forget history

On a beautiful spring day Tuesday in Ten Sleep, students, staff, administrators, residents, dignitaries gathered outside by the basketball courts for the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new preK-12 school.

Plans are for the school to be open during the mid-winter break in 2024.

The description of the plans for the school sound innovative and should create a unique and inviting learning environment for all students.

Superintendent Annie Griffin in her remarks during the ceremony thanked a slew of people who helped make the groundbreaking and the new school a reality. Without listing all the names, for fear of missing one or two, it is an impressive list and reminds us that this type of undertaking involves a lot of people at the local, county and state levels. Kudos to everyone who has committed and been involved in helping make the new school a reality.

Until Tuesday the new school was just a vision on paper, now it is slowly, with each turn of the dirt, becoming a reality. Ten Sleep school will embark on a new era and Tuesday was a perfect way to usher in that new era.

While Tuesday’s ceremony ushered in a new era, I hope the school task force committee is considering ways to honor the history of the current school.

There are residents, just as there have been in every community when a new school is built, who are sad to see the old one go (with the current Ten Sleep school set to be demolished once the new school is constructed).

In life it is necessary to change, evolve and move forward, but our history is also a part of us and should be preserved so as Ten Sleep students move into a new, modern, innovative school the history of the hallowed halls of the current need to be preserved in some fashion.