Fort Riley leaders help break ground on new Junction City High School

By Will Ravenstein, Fort Riley Public AffairsOctober 15, 2018

Fort Riley leaders help break ground on new Junction City (Kansas) High School Oct. 5.
Beth Hudson, left, interim superintendent, Unified School District 475, Tom Brungardt, school board president, and Col. Stephen Shrader, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Riley commander, toss dirt after ceremonially breaking ground on the new $105 million Jun... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- After a brief ceremony Oct. 5 construction has begun on the new $105 million Junction City High School at the corner of highway 18 and Munson Rd.

Representatives from Unified School District 475 and U.S. Army Garrison Fort Riley commander Stephen Shrader spoke to the audience before posing for photos with the ceremonial shovels.

"It makes perfect sense to me, that tonight in company of our student body and visiting alumni, that we celebrate homecoming," said Junction City High School principal Melissa Sharp. "This group of people with us today, also gets to celebrate a new homecoming for future Blue Jays. It is certainly my humble honor to welcome each of you to today's ceremony as we commemorate this new chapter. We are more than thrilled to begin construction on this project and want to thank our community, the State of Kansas, Fort Riley, our local government representation and the Department of Defense for making this a reality."

Sharp thanked the community supporters and donors, those who made large and small donations, for their combined efforts to make the school a reality.

"…your dedication, your support and commitment for this school and community has not gone unnoticed," she said. "Getting to this moment took the entire family of Blue Jays.

We could not have done it without you."

Sharp closed with a message to the students.

"And to the student body -- past, present and future -- you deserve an outstanding facility of this magnitude," she said. "Be proud. It is our desire to make this the best education and training facility in the region for you and your post-secondary dreams. If you can dream it -- we want you to be it all through the learning that occurs within the walls of Junction City High School. I would like to formally welcome you to the new Junction City High School and the future home of Blue Jay Nation."

Shrader, a father of two JCHS students -- Mason and Grant -- thanked USD 475 members for inviting him to take part in the ceremony. He spoke of the appreciation Soldiers, and families share with the district for their dedication to education and the security the teachers and staff at the schools provide as Soldiers head overseas.

"Our military families know not only the sacrifice of service, but the reality of changing duty stations and adjusting to communities and schools every few years," he said. "In fact, access to quality schools is the number one factor we look at as military families as we get ready to transition to our next assignments. Everyone here at USD 475 provides the education and learning environment our families trust and take pride in. You provide that education in a unique environment where duty can take parents to far corners of the earth.

"It's the professionalism and support of those that work in our schools that give Soldiers peace of mind when they have to deploy and answer the nations call," he added. "As our Soldiers serve this great nation, they know the children will be getting the best education possible and the support they need to thrive in school and in life."

Shrader also spoke of the importance of the partnership between Fort Riley and the school district, mentioning three schools have been built on post in recent years.

"That's significant because you don't see that many schools opening up on military installations that often," he said. "Fort Riley has always worked closely with USD 475, in fact a number of USD 475 schools are partners in the Adopt a School Program -- including the partnership between Junction City High School and the 97th Military Police Battalion."

Interim superintendent, Beth Hudson, thanked the volunteers within the community who "worked tirelessly to impact students for decades to come."

"We wouldn't be here today without the hard work of the community's 'Say Yes to JCHS' campaign, Junction City High School staff, our district business ops division, our district marketing and media relations department, passionate district staff and supporters of education in Geary County," she said. "This has been indeed a collaborative effort."

Hudson pointed out the new high school is three miles from the current school, but with the programs to be offered, students are "miles ahead of where we were."

"A new Junction City High School will create more opportunity and make current programs available to students in popular career paths," she said. "I really cannot tell you how excited I am to see our students thrive in an environment designed for their success. Junction City High School has a diverse population of students from around the world, many of which are military connected and our partnership with these Fort Riley families is one of our many points of pride."

Hudson mentioned the importance of Fort Riley to the Flint Hills Region and the heavy impact aid awarded to the district because of the installations presence.

"Fort Riley is critical to our region and it is because of our close ties with our schools, we have consisted for heavy impact aid, which accounts for a significant portion of the funding for our new Junction City High School," she said.

As she closed, she reminded everyone to "be proud of where we are from. Be excited about our future. Be bold, and always be blue."

Several members of the freshmen class were present as they will be the first to class to graduate from the new school once it opens in 2021.