Posted 11:32 pm Thursday, January 08, 2009
Dedication Friday For Grace’s New Four-Classroom Wing
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
Grace Community School will celebrate the opening of its new four-classroom wing, named the Center for Purposeful Design, with a dedication ceremony Friday morning.
Staff Writer
Grace Community School will celebrate the opening of its new four-classroom wing, named the Center for Purposeful Design, with a dedication ceremony Friday morning.
The dedication is set for 10 a.m. in the Burgess Auditorium at the high school campus of Grace Community School, 3001 Univer-sity Blvd. in Tyler.
The $1 million facility contains two new classrooms, a computer lab, a science lab and bathrooms.
Dr. Charley Gordon and his wife, Kimberly, contributed financially toward the building of the center. Gordon and his wife chose to name the new wing of high school classes the Center for Purposeful Design "as a symbol of God's invisible qualities, eternal power and divine nature," according to a statement from Grace Community School.
During the ceremony, Dr. Gordon will explain "his vision for and interest in purposeful design" and how the center is a "perfect marriage of his vision with the vision of Grace school," according to Grace.
Also during the ceremony, Pam Konon, a Grace science instructor, will share the impact the new facility will have on the learning process for high school students at Grace.
After the dedication, Tom Luce of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) will speak to students while a reception takes place for visitors and special guests in the new center.
The center, located on the east side of the existing classroom wing at the high school, is one of several projects in the $7 million Building for Eternity capital campaign project for Grace.
The campaign also includes new classrooms at the elementary school, a multi-purpose gym/cafeteria for the junior high school and an athletic stadium and complex for field sports at the high school, according to Grace.
Lorie Farrar, director of development at Grace, said the Center for Purposeful Design was conceived by Dr. Gordon -- a neurosurgeon with an "incredible passion for purposeful design of the universe."
"We have a biblical curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade at Grace Community School. Our science curriculum is biblically-integrated all the way through, and the Center for Purposeful Design science lab actually culminates 12 years of science curriculum," Ms. Farrar said. "We hope for it to be a model, state-of-the-art science center for Christian schools in the East Texas area."
The center is donated in honor of Dr. Gordon's and his wife's parents, who will attend the ceremony Friday. They are Sue and Brian Gordon of Andrews and Annette and Roland Scroggins of Brandon, Miss.
Dr. Gordon and his wife have four children in Grace Community School, Ms. Farrar said.
"They are advocates of Christian education and have been supporters financially of Grace Community School even prior to having children here," she said.
Besides the science lab, the new center also offers two classrooms and a computer lab.
Previously, sixth through 12th grades -- junior high and high school -- went to the same computer lab in the junior high. With the opening of the center, now each school has its own computer lab.
"We can maintain a competitive edge for students by providing a state-of-the-art and updated computer lab and science lab," Ms. Farrar said of the new center, also noting. "The two additional classrooms are providing space for us to incorporate two new Advanced Placement classes."
The center opened to students when classes resumed at Grace on Monday, Ms. Farrar said. The construction was finished over the Christmas holidays.
