With each passing day, more concrete is poured, more dirt is dug away, and the students and staff at Kelly Walsh High School get one step closer to moving into a new building. The construction of the new Kelly Walsh High School began the summer following the 2012-2013 school year. Since then, the area surrounding the existing school has been completely transformed and people have grown more and more excited for the school’s completion.

Principal Brad Diller is among the group of people that are looking forward to the finished product.

“Fifty years ago, when this school was built…there were no computers, there were no calculators, there were no LED lights. Now we are going to have all of those things, only it’s going to be newer and better,” said Diller.

Diller is looking forward to all of the advancements that the new school will have, such as the increased wireless network availability, the athletic facilities, the science labs, and two lecture halls.

However, Diller still holds on to his belief that the new, shiny structure isn’t the most important thing.

“We have said forever that it’s not about the bricks, it’s about you and us and the people. So the school’s going to be great, but the fact that we are moving all the teachers and the kids into the new school is what’s going to be the best part,” said Diller.

Duane Reimer, a Kelly Walsh staff member, is a project construction liaison for the new school.

“It’s going to be fun having nice, fresh, new carpet, and beautiful, painted walls, and fancy, new furniture…but all of that stuff will wear off really quick. Two months in, it’ll just be a school, and then it’s just down to the people that are there,” said Reimer.

Reimer, along with the rest of the people working on the school, are making huge efforts to capture the essence of the original Kelly Walsh and transfer it to the new school.

“Little bits and pieces of the old school will come with us,” said Reimer

He has identified around twelve items that will taken from the old school and put into the new one, such as the 1965 cornerstone, pieces of the gym floors, and Tommy the Trojan, which will be placed in a display case. The architects working on the school are also well aware of the famous Green Area, and are striving to re-create that type of atmosphere in a section of the new school, including an abundant amount of the color green.

In a few short months, the walls of a building will come crumbling down, but Kelly Walsh High School will still be standing.

“If something happened to this Kelly Walsh today…the wind blew it over or whatever, as long as all of the people were okay, we’d still be Kelly Walsh. We would still be alright,” said Diller.