The school community celebrated the newly reconstructed Dream Lake Elementary School campus with a time capsule ceremony, a recap of the building’s history, a ribbon cutting and more during the Tuesday, October 18, dedication ceremony at the school located on North Park Avenue.
After one year of rebuilding, Dream Lake Elementary School opened as one eight new Orange County Public Schools facilities for the 2016-2017 school year.
Featured speakers were Orange County School Board Chairman Bill Sublette, School Board member Christine Moore with a skit by fifth grade students Riley Beckford and Nicholas Chandler, Mayor Joe Kilsheimer and Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins.
Following the speakers were musical performances. Local musician Ennis Pruitt performed “Over the Rainbow” on ukulele. The Dream Lake Melody Makers, under the direction of music teacher Alex Losee, sang two selections, “Let the Music Surround You” and “Stand Together.”
Next was the time capsule ceremony. For the time capsule, each grade had a pair of students present a scroll bearing their and their classmates’ names as well as their dreams.
The time capsule, which will be displayed in a case in Dream Lake Elementary School’s main office, will be opened in 25 years at the campus’s 75th anniversary celebration.
Other artifacts placed into the time capsule were the dedication ceremony program, the event’s invitation and a newspaper article, all presented by school community representatives.
The program ended with a ribbon cutting outside the school’s entrance at the corner of North Park Avenue and West Summit Street.
After reconstruction, spanning from summer 2015 to summer 2016, Dream Lake Elementary School hosted an August 11 sneak peek. Back then, community members saw the project’s results such as redone classrooms and hallways, upgraded digital technology, furniture, and even a mural depicting nearby Dream Lake.
Overall, the improved building is 74,220 square feet with a capacity of 832 student stations.
In October and November 2016 and January 2017, eight schools including Dream Lake had their dedication ceremonies scheduled to hallmark their state-of-the-art campuses.
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