HINTON, WV (WVNS) – The muddy and wet conditions didn’t stop the construction at Summers County High School.

Through a field of muddy ground, construction workers picked up where they previously left off on the weekend.

This project is a big undertaking for David Warvel, Superintendent for Summers County Schools.

He said the first plans were created after middle school students had to join high school students in the same building due to terrible conditions in the previous middle school building.

“That building needs a lot of help and a lot of work. There’s a lot of water seeping through and you have lead paint in the walls. You’ve got some asbestos that’s in the ceilings. Anytime you’ve had a lot of water moisture, that building has had a lot of damage,” Warvel said.

While this move benefited middle school students, it led to little room and cramped conditions.

Thankfully, the School Building Authority authorized a new 12-million-dollar project at the high school. This project will look to add additional classrooms and a gymnasium to separate the students out.

The new building will also host a new lab area, one for those interested in science and mathematics.

“We call it a STEM Lab because of science, technology, engineering, and math. It’s a big room that has a lot of workspaces and it will have water and electrical running in that room. Teachers can check it out as a lab for any of those three grade levels,” Warvel said.

Warvel hopes the STEM lab will better the education of the next generation of students. He said the STEM lab is important because of how education has changed in recent years.

Warvel also wants to create an environment where students can continue to learn in different ways.

“It’s a place to apply what you’ve learned in school. And school should be fun, as long as you’re learning through your trial and error. And that’s what makes schooling more exciting. I want kids to go home to tell Mom and Dad and tell them “look at what we tried”. And they can have a conversation that says ‘what did you do in school today’,” Warvel said.

The new additions are set to open up for the start of the 2024-2025 school year.