NewsFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8Academics
Teacher gives Science Lab spirited makeover
Jul 23, 2002 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
"Wow" will be the first word out of the mouths of many returning Middle School students when they notice the revamped Science Lab. Middle School’s newest science teacher James Hutchins is responsible for the make over. Inspired by his excitement and anticipation for the upcoming academic year Hutchins spent part of the summer enhancing the room. But Hutchins did not do the work solo. It took the support and combined efforts from his wife Rene, Steve Herod, a facilities maintenance carpenter, and Angela Peroni, another Middle School faculty member, to resurface the lab tables, repaint the walls, create a school spirit themed mural, add a tiger graphic to a podium, and clean out many years' worth of miscellaneous items from the laboratory office.
Hutchins's first year at Darlington Middle School and his first year teaching in his own room fed his ambition to transform the lab into HIS room. "He wanted to work hard to make it look good,” his wife Rene explained. However James Hutchins would quickly respond by underlining the role of Rene who teaches second and third graders at Cave Spring Elementary. Hutchins pointed out that Rene painted both the mural and the podium-perhaps the most interesting parts of the room's make over. Inspiration for painting a tiger on a wall came from a book belonging to the couple's daughters, Jordan and Katie (both Lower School students). The mural features a grinning tiger and a smiling snake and expands into the third dimension with ivy that frames the mural and adds to the jungle feel. This new mural matches the new graphic on the podium of a tiger wearing tennis shoes. Rene captured the best descriptions of them when she asked, "Aren't they cute?"
Yet the murals form only a part of the room's total makeover. The new tabletops make the whole room look different and the shiny walls make the place feel fresh and exciting-the way the new teacher feels. Teaching in your own room for the first time would be exciting for any teacher, but it feels even better for Hucthins because he worked a full-time job while going back to school in order to become a teacher. He now teaches and simultaneously works on his master’s degree in education from Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Ala. He is enthusiastic about the upcoming year and the refurbishing of the classroom echoes that excitement.
Hutchins's first year at Darlington Middle School and his first year teaching in his own room fed his ambition to transform the lab into HIS room. "He wanted to work hard to make it look good,” his wife Rene explained. However James Hutchins would quickly respond by underlining the role of Rene who teaches second and third graders at Cave Spring Elementary. Hutchins pointed out that Rene painted both the mural and the podium-perhaps the most interesting parts of the room's make over. Inspiration for painting a tiger on a wall came from a book belonging to the couple's daughters, Jordan and Katie (both Lower School students). The mural features a grinning tiger and a smiling snake and expands into the third dimension with ivy that frames the mural and adds to the jungle feel. This new mural matches the new graphic on the podium of a tiger wearing tennis shoes. Rene captured the best descriptions of them when she asked, "Aren't they cute?"
Yet the murals form only a part of the room's total makeover. The new tabletops make the whole room look different and the shiny walls make the place feel fresh and exciting-the way the new teacher feels. Teaching in your own room for the first time would be exciting for any teacher, but it feels even better for Hucthins because he worked a full-time job while going back to school in order to become a teacher. He now teaches and simultaneously works on his master’s degree in education from Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Ala. He is enthusiastic about the upcoming year and the refurbishing of the classroom echoes that excitement.
