By Sarah Light, staff writer

LAKE MILLS, Iowa &8212; Ask the students of Lake Mills Community School what they think about the renovations and additions made to their school during the last year, and they&8217;ll respond with one word: wow.

It&8217;s been a project that has been long in the making, but now that it&8217;s done, it was worth the wait.

The students can finally enjoy a renovated third floor &8212; for the seventh and eighth grades &8212; along with a new middle school gym, elementary art room, fitness and weight room, chemistry room, biology room, locker room and expanded industrial technology area.

&8220;It&8217;s been very positive &8212; a good start to the school year,&8221; Superintendent Daryl Sherman said of all the improvements.

Right after the 2006 school year finished, construction on the about $3.4 million project began, and during the last year, the work has been underway at the school, which houses K-12th grades.

All that&8217;s left to be finished now is the new greenhouse, which is set to arrive at the end of this week, Sherman said.

Then, within a month school officials hope to host an open house to show parents all the work that has taken place.

&8220;The first thing that came to my mind was &8216;Wow,&8217;&8221; said senior Paige Nelson, 17, about looking at the new science classrooms. &8220;This is really going to push me forward in my science education. Now we&8217;re more able to get our hands on things.&8221;

Nelson, who plans to pursue a career in a science-related field, said she appreciates the opportunity the students have to finally be able to use up-to-date, professional equipment. Now when she graduates, she will be able to say that she has already had experience with the major equipment.

Third-grade student Mackenzie Sletten, 8, who was using the new elementary art room with her class Wednesday, said she likes the space she and her classmates have in the new room to work on art projects.

&8220;It&8217;s fun doing the projects in here,&8221; Sletten said. &8220;And it&8217;s closer to our classroom.&8221;

Classmate Rori Bowman, 8, said she likes the large windows in the art room and the fact that there are more cabinets and sinks there.

Senior Kari Haugsdal said there are many positives to all of the renovations.

&8220;I think everybody likes it,&8221; Haugsdal said. &8220;It&8217;s nice to have all the high school classes more centralized.&8221;

The improvements will also give the school the opportunity to do even more in the future, she said.

Physical education teacher Anne Skellenger said the new middle school gym has been a huge success for her and her students.

&8220;I love it,&8221; Skellenger said. &8220;It&8217;s almost two and a half times the space. Kids aren&8217;t running into each other, and more kids can participate.&8221;

She said when her students first saw the new gym, they said, &8220;Wow, this is awesome.&8221; Then all they wanted to do was run, she said.

&8220;Thank you to the community,&8221; Skellenger said. &8220;The kids and staff are enjoying it.&8221;

More than 700 students occupy the Lake Mills Community School, which was originally built in 1926, with the addition of the elementary school in the 1950s or &8217;60s.

Throughout the years, the building has gone through many additions and renovations, with the last renovations prior to these coming in 1994. At that point, the school got a new library, art rooms and elementary costume spaces.

Improvements made to the school:

– New state-of-the-art chemistry and biology classrooms

– A green house accessible from the vocational agriculture room and new biology room

– Renovation of the old third floor classrooms to get all seventh and eighth grade subject areas on one floor

– Renovation of the fitness weight room into locker rooms

– Expansion of the industrial arts area to include a vocational agriculture shop and building trades construction area

– Relocation of the wrestling rooms to the current elementary physical education classroom/middle school gym space, providing more floor space for both programs

– New elementary physical education classroom; middle school gym to replace existing smaller gym

– New elementary art classroom

– Other upgrades to meet air quality and fire safety codes

– Geothermal heating and cooling system was installed