ROSELAND — Dunne STEM Academy students and their parents celebrated their brand new Innovation Lab, science lab and state-of-the-art gymnasium Friday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that Mayor Rahm Emanuel attended.
The $11-million project, spearheaded by Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), allowed Dunne, 10845 S. Union Ave., to transition to a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) school. About $7 million came from Chicago Public Schools while the additional $4 million was secured by State Sen. Emil Jones (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Bob Rita (D-Blue Island).
“I think this is a beautiful building,” Emanuel said, adding, “[Austin] is an unbelievable tireless advocate.”
Austin and Jones were both on hand to celebrate the unveiling.
“All of my seven babies went to Dunne, so this is a special school to me,” Austin said, adding that the children in this community “deserved” the new multipurpose facility.
The far South Side K-8 school has two new labs, a new gym and a hallway that leads to the facility. The STEM Innovation lab has 15 new computers with high-tech software. Students will get to use CrazyTalk, a facial and 2-D animation software, and Sketchup, a 3-D modeling software. Students will be able to rotate to each station so they get experience with all of the programs.
Students didn’t have much space to do experiments and projects before, said Natasha Ortega, Dunne's resident principal. The new science lab is twice the size of the old one and has new beakers and an eyewash station. The tables are arranged so students can comfortably collaborate with one another.
“I like it,” said five-year-old Tsezar Cochran. He said he's glad to play basketball in the new 3,468-square-foot gym instead of the lunchroom that had to serve a dual purpose.
His grandmother Rhuetta Cochran said she is pleased with the new gym, which is named after Austin, and the STEM lab.
“Everything they’re going to need for the future is being put into this school, and then put into the children,” she said. “I am ecstatic about it.”
Eighth-graders like Kourtni Brandy, 13, are proud to be the first class to graduate in the new gym. She said she was both “shocked” and “speechless” when she first saw the new facility.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “Some people couldn't have lunch [before] because they had to have gym [class], but now we have this big gymnasium where we can come over here while everybody else is having lunch. We can enjoy the beautiful gym we just got.”
Principal Chandra Byrd-Wright said the community waited 36 years since the plan initla vote in 1979 before the project was completed.
"The efforts for a new building for Dunne began long before any of us got here," Byrd-Wright said. "This reminds us of how far we’ve come, but it’s only the beginning. We’re on the move once again. Our goal is to make Dunne STEM Academy a model for schools across the city and even across the country.”
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