The Salamanca City Central School District has officially its STEAM Center of Excellence addition to the high school. A ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening was recently held. Submitted photo

SALAMANCA — When Salamanca City Central School District broke ground on its STEAM Center of Excellence addition 13 months ago, Superintendent Robert Breidenstein, lifting a hard hat adorned with his first name, said he was “delighted to wear this for the first time.”

As the district set to officially open the addition at the high school on the morning of Dec. 6, Breidenstein had changed his tone. “I am pleased to take this off and transition to a different construction tool,” he said.

No, not an oversized pair of scissors for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Instead, fittingly, a robot made and driven by students that slashed through the ribbon to commemorate the STEAM Center’s grand opening at the Iroquois Drive campus.

Construction may have begun last November, but the vision of a sparkling new STEAM wing has been years in the making for the district.

“Four-and-a-half years ago we were a priority school, which means we were performing nowhere near where we needed to be to be successful,” said Mark Beehler, assistant superintendent for academic services. “At that time, our graduation rate was about 60%. Our Native American graduation rate was 42%.”

Rather than focusing students on traditional school subjects to boost classroom performance, Beehler said the district built a “comprehensive education plan that did not simply teach subjects, like math and ELA, but instead taught children. This meant engaging them in meaningful work.”

It meant making a concentrated investment in STEAM curriculums (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) that foster transferable skills and are valuable to all career paths.

As a result, the high school graduation rate has risen to 84%. The graduation rate of Native Americans has nearly doubled – matching the general student population. And three times as many students are earning advanced regents diplomas.

“This new physical space,” Beehler said, “will allow our growing success to incubate at an even faster pace and ensure success for the future.”

Many local and regional officials attended the ceremony, as did Seneca Nation members, and employees of Turner Construction and Hunt Architects, who led the addition project.

Following the ceremony, attendees toured the addition. They discovered a large maker space, robotics lab, 3D prototyping, technology and computer aided design (CAD) classrooms, and areas for art.

Representatives for congressman Tom Reed, NYS assemblyman Joe Giglio, and state senator George Borrello commended the Salamanca school district for its vision of providing a 21st century education that will prepare students to fill emerging and needed roles in the regional workforce.

Susan Labuhn, county legislator, and Arlene Bova, Seneca Nation Councilor, meanwhile, expressed excitement in the collaborative growth of the school district, city of Salamanca, and native territory.

“That’s what we do here in the Allegany territory and the city of Salamanca,” Bova said. “We’re finally at a point where we’re moving. That’s very exciting.”

The STEAM Center is scheduled to open to students before the holiday break.

To learn more about the Salamanca City Central School District visit SalamancaNY.org.