Novi Meadows staff commemorates building construction

NOVI — The staff at Novi Meadows Elementary School, on Taft Road, south of 11 Mile Road, commemorated the construction of their very own building by autographing a beam Aug. 30 that will be used as part of the foundational structure above the office of the new school building.

Lisa Fenchel, the sixth grade principal of Novi Meadows, which is an upper elementary school for the fifth and sixth grades, said the beam signing was the idea of the construction company.

“We thought that it was a great idea just to have everybody that has worked on getting ready for this new school to open to kind of have something that they could say, ‘Hey, my name’s on there. I was a part of that,’” Fenchel said. “A lot of us have worked there for a very long time, so it was kind of a neat thing to do.”

She said the beam is just to give recognition to those who have helped to plan for the new building, which is being built directly in front of the current building and will incorporate part of it. She said that their current building was once the city’s high school and middle school. The beam will be installed in the ceiling above the main office, and once installed, it will not be visible.    

“It’s kind of neat to know that there’s a little piece of us that is going to be part of this new building that will be around for a really long time,” said Heather Burnside, a sixth grade social studies teacher and the president of the Novi Education Association. “It was a fun way to welcome staff back.”

She said it helps the staff to recommit to the fact that while dealing with the construction now can be burdensome, in a year they will have their own building.

“It was a nice way to make us feel like we are part of something big that is going to be lasting,” said Burnside.

“We’ve never had a space that was built for us,” said Fenchel, who has worked at the school for 31 years. “We’ve just taken over other people’s spaces. So, this is the first time Novi Meadows gets to build their own space, and we’ll all be in one place together. It is just neat. It was just a way to kind of bring everybody together and get them excited for the actual build part of it.”

The new building, being paid for with 2019 bond funds, is expected to open in the fall of 2023 for fifth grade students. Sixth grade students will join them there in the fall of 2024.

“We’ve just always wanted a building that was built specifically for our-age kids, and we’re finally getting it,” said Fenchel. “It’s exciting, and it’s exciting for the community. We have all the students here at Novi Meadows when they are in fifth and sixth grade. So, it will be a great piece for all of the community to be able to benefit from. “

The beam was scheduled to be installed at 8 a.m. Sept. 8. Fenchel said they plan to have the children sign a beam too. She said the beam the kids sign will be a visible part of the structure. However, no date has been set for the children’s beam signing.