Cape High proving to be an engaging facility

The staff and students of Cape Henlopen High School continue to settle into their new facility.  Those from outside the school community who visit - whether for a sporting event, a theater production, an Extreme Makeover pep rally or any other reason - can’t help but be impressed by what they see.  It’s a school for the 21st century. Those who haven’t seen what $75 million plus can buy these days - what their tax dollars can create and provide when pooled and spent intelligently - owe it to themselves to find a reason to get inside.

While the outside of the school is impressive, and there’s rarely a time when community members aren’t playing basketball on the outside courts and walking the track or fields, inside the school is where the new century shows itself clearly.

Principal Brian Donahue took a group of returning 1976 alumni on a brief tour recently.  What he had planned to be a half-hour tour quickly became an hour and could have lasted longer.  He said the alums were very interested and almost to a person wondered whether they could come back to school again. It’s an engaging kind of place and a comfortable place - a campus kind of place.  Donahue said he really believes people would be in the building 24 hours a day if allowed.

Most importantly, it’s engaging for students.  Whether it’s working with a robotic, computer-driven saw that cuts wood according to how it’s programmed, or in the fully equipped broadcast studio, or in the full-stainless training kitchen for the culinary arts program, or in the agriculture classroom and large greenhouse, the students see opportunities to apply their knowledge in every direction.

Computers are omnipresent.  Education is cool and accessible.

Recent studies show that students who take advantage of career pathway programs, such as those being offered in schools like Cape, are finding productive jobs if they go straight into the workforce and a big head start if they opt for further school or training. It’s a challenging world, and it’s good to see that Cape students have excellent facilities and equipment to be well prepared in this changing world.