OTTAWA HILLS, Ohio — A new learning center is almost done inside Ottawa Hills High School.
The more than eight-million dollar project will be a place that middle and high school students in the district can use seven days a week and will be ready for use by the start of school in August.
Superintendent Dr. Adam Fineske said the students will do more than just study in the space.
"We think The Foundry will ignite curiosity," Fineske said. "We hope that it will forge connections with our kids in better ways. We want it to fuel growth, not only academically but socially and emotionally too."
It's the centerpiece of the district's Full STEAM Ahead Capital Campaign and is geared toward helping students both in the classroom and out of it by providing mentoring, tutoring and college and career opportunities.
"The Foundry is going to be really helpful for career planning, as a senior. For other students, I know younger high schoolers are going to find a lot of value in the ACT, SAT and PSAT tutoring," Ottawa Hills senior Danny Assi said.
It started as a courtyard; now, it's a place for students to come before, during and after school.
It houses a tech area, a full cafe and a handful of meeting rooms with state-of-the-art technology.
"One of those will be a 360 immersion classroom. We'll be the first high school in the country to have one of those. That will make learning come to life for all subject areas in unique and different ways," Fineske said.
He said the students also played a big role in the project; from choosing the name of the space to helping decide what food and drink items will be on the menu at the cafe.
Many of them plan to spend a lot of time in the space.
"One to three hours a day on weekdays and then over the weekends, I would say also one to three hours. And I'm really happy that it's open on the weekends too because I know a lot of students need that weekend time to get their work done," Assi said.
The nearly 7,000-square-foot space will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on school days and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends.
The entire Full STEAM Ahead campaign also includes a new art wing, all new HVAC in the school and a new science area with five fully updated classrooms.
RELATED: Getting ready for back to school