Although many children may regret that the dog days of summer have come and gone with the speed of a racing greyhound, they were certainly excited to began a new year as Eagles when the Bethlehem School District opened the doors to its newest building.
The district officially opened the doors to its Eagle Elementary School on Tuesday, Sept. 2 to hundreds of gathered parents and students on the evening before classes began for the 2008-09 school year.
Local lawmakers and school officials were also on hand to commemorate the district’s first new building since President Dwight D. Eisenhower roamed the halls of the White House.
The event began with a group of high school students singing the national anthem followed by the school’s alma mater.
Appropriately, the district’s new superintendent, Michael Tebbano, gave the opening speech to the large crowd of family members, politicians, and reporters waiting anxiously outside to get their first peak at the new school.
We’re all very, very excited, Tebbano told the crowd. `Eagle is a special place with a very special name. Eagle was decided on by consensus of the whole school district.`
Next up to the podium was state Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Delmar, who lauded the Bethlehem School District as one of the best around and the town itself as a great place to live.
`It gives me enormous pride to be here,` Neil Breslin said, adding that his children are BC alumni. `If you don’t already know, this is the best town to live in and the best school district in the Northeast. It’s a terrific place to raise kids and to live, and I look forward to many more years here in Bethlehem.`
Next in line was Assemblyman Tim Gordon, I-Bethlehem, who stated the brand new building would be home to some of the area’s, and possibly the world’s, future talent and will be the springboard to greatness for thousands of students.
`It’s wonderful to see the dedication of the faculty here,` Gordon said to a large applause. `We can only imagine what students will come through these doors and what impact they will have on the community.`
Albany County Executive Michael Breslin spoke next.
`Mrs. Reagan, boy are you lucky,` Breslin said referring to the Eagle’s new principal Dianna Reagan. `The place looks great and I’m proud to be a part of this community.`
Bethlehem Supervisor Jack Cunningham followed the Breslin speech by talking about the symbolic nature of opening the new school.
`I am a graduate of Bethlehem Central,` Cunningham said to a cheering crowd. `I think this is a great symbol for the investment we’ve made into our community and to our children.`
Bethlehem Board of Education President James Lytle followed up the line of politicians with a few jokes and a little historical trivia.
`You know, if it were up to a man named Ben Franklin this would have been called Turkey Elementary,` Lytle said referring to Franklin advocating the turkey over the eagle for the national bird.
`Somehow that doesn’t sound the same,` he quipped.
The biggest applause of the evening was reserved for Principal Reagan.
`I, too, am a graduate of BC and am very much an Eagle,` Reagan said, poking her own fun by saying it wasn’t fair to have to speak after so many officials who frequently speak publicly.
`I would like to thank everyone at BC, the community and the board of education,` Reagan said, before thanking her own family for supporting her during long preparation hours to get the school up and running. `This is the day we’ve been waiting for. Welcome to Eagle.`
The crowd packed into the school as rock and roll tunes played on the loud speakers and were treated to shakes and refreshments in the Eagle Cafetorium and given tours of Bethlehem’s newest building in 51 years.
`Come on in ` it’s your school,` Tebanno announced just before the crowd dashed into the building.
At a board of education meeting the next evening on Wednesday, Sept. 3, which was also the first day of school, the board complimented Reagan and the district’s faculty and staff for putting on a `phenomenal opening.`
`It made us all proud to be a part of the school. We had a phenomenal opening day of school today,` Lytle said at the meeting.
`Dianna Reagan had everything under wonderful control,` Tebbano added. `Eagle is fully operational and is now running.“