Old memorabilia will go to the new school, board says

A move to assure that class pictures and trophies at both the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School and Lake Roosevelt High School are saved and put up in the new building got approval from the school board Monday night.

The walls in both schools are covered with graduating classes and the two trophy display cases are filled with trophies representing many memorable accomplishments.

A letter to the school board from Lonna Bussert, the chair of the Grand Coulee High School Alumni Association, advocated the move.

“With the opening of the new school we would hope that these important artifacts from this area’s past not be lost or moved to a storeroom,” Bussert wrote. “We would also like to see them under control of the Grand Coulee Dam school system rather than being placed away from the educational facilities.”

She added that former Coulee Dam High School alumni would share this interest.

The board took up the issue and provided assurances that the photos would occupy important places within the new building.

Superintendent Dennis Carlson said the trophies presented a temporary problem since the trophy cases will not hold trophies from both schools. He said when the new gym is built it will provide adequate space for all the trophies.

Carlson said that walls within the new K-12 building will offer enough space so the traditional and historic pictures can be hung.