As the school year kicks off in Williamston, there’s a spirit of excitement and promise in the air. On the latest episode of the Hornet Hive podcast, Dr. Christopher Lewis (Board of Education member) sits down with Dr. Adam Spina, Superintendent of Schools, to share an inside look at how the district is “Building for the Future”—not just as a theme, but as a living reality for students, staff, and the whole community.
Summer Buzz: Camps and Construction
Dr. Spina highlights that while summer may seem quieter with school out, the district is anything but idle. The longstanding Kids Camp kept campuses vibrant and energetic, and serves as a reminder of the community’s commitment to giving kids meaningful summer experiences. Dr. Spina even gives a heartfelt shout-out to Rebecca Olson and her staff, who make the camp program such a success each year.
But it’s the many projects—both visible and more behind-the-scenes—that take up much of the summer. Thanks to a recently approved bond, the district has tackled four major renovations: new lockers and classroom furniture at the middle and high schools, major upgrades to the tennis courts (with help from a generous grant), and a fast-tracked overhaul of the softball field. Dr. Spina gives listeners an update on their status and provides a peek at the careful planning required to get everything ready for students' return.
Beyond Bricks and Mortar
“Building for the Future” goes well beyond construction. Dr. Spina emphasizes the importance of continuous improvement, whether that's implementing new teaching tools like flexible classroom seating, upgrading technology for teachers and students, or rolling out curriculum advances (hello, new K-8 math curriculum!). The commitment to safety is evident too, with updates to security systems and classroom environments across the district.
The theme is about more than physical buildings—it’s about supporting growth, innovation, and wellbeing. Dr. Spina likens it to a championship team that doesn't rest on its laurels: even after success, the drive to get better never stops. New hires, process reviews, and expert consultations all point toward a future-focused mindset.
Stay Engaged
As construction continues into the school year and new programs roll out, Dr. Spina encourages open communication—parents, staff, and community members are always welcomed to reach out.
To get the full story and hear these updates straight from district leaders, check out the episode. It’s an inspiring reminder that in Williamston, building for the future means investing in every aspect of student success.
Give the Hornet Hive a listen—you’ll feel the energy and vision for yourself!
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:20]:
Welcome back to the Hornet Hive. I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, one of the members of the Williamson Community Schools Board of Education. Really excited to have you back again and we are getting ready, ready for a brand new school year, but also closing out a really busy summer here in Williamston and there's been a lot of things happening and I'm really excited that today. We have Dr. Spina, Superintendent of Schools on the podcast today to talk about some of these things because it has been a really busy summer and as always, we're really excited about the kickoff of the new year. So we're gonna be talking about all of these different things. Dr. Spina, thanks so much for being here today.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:00:58]:
Hi, Chris. Yeah, the summer flew by, at least it did for me. But it's been very productive here and so looking forward to sharing what was accomplished and some things to look forward to as the 25, 26 school year commences.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:11]:
Now, I know that one of the things that happens over every summer is we have our long standing kids camp program that has been within our district for many, many years. And we had another really successful camp again this year. Right?
Dr. Adam Spina [00:01:27]:
Yeah. Sometimes people ask me if it gets lonely in the summer when all the students are gone, and I sometimes just remind them that we have the camp running throughout the summer and a lot of times the kids are playing right outside the window of my office here. So in a lot of ways, if I'm in here working, it feels like kids are still in session and school's still going. So that's always great. It's a reminder of what we do this for. And seeing the kids having a good time and the friendships they make and the experiences that they get to have over the course of the summer is just great to see. And just a quick shout out to Rebecca Olson, the director, for all the work she puts into organizing that and her staff, who go above and beyond, like all our staff in Williamston do day in and day out to make that a great experience for the students that are there. So appreciate all their work.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:02:09]:
And another successful year of kids camp here in Williamston also throughout the summer.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:13]:
If you've been driving around our community at all around the schools at all, you will have noticed that it has been really, really busy. There's a lot of projects that happen over the summer as we are not only working on bond issues, but also non bo issue projects. And as always, we want to keep you up to date especially on things that are happening with both of these aspects. So Dr. Spina, talk to us a little bit about some of the summer projects that happened and where we're at with those.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:02:45]:
So this was the first summer of bond work from the bond that the community graciously approved a year ago. Actually, almost exactly a year ago from I think, the date we're recording this. And we pushed really hard last year with our construction and architectural partners to really try to get things going as quickly as we could. Obviously not cutting corners with planning, but we wanted to make sure the community could see a tangible return on their investment. And so we had four main bond projects that were scheduled for the summer. As of recording this, none of them are done because staying on schedule is always difficult with the different things that develop over the course of many months. But they're all close and I think we'll get there by the time school's back in session. So the first was lockers to replace the lockers at the high school and the middle school.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:03:30]:
As of recording this, the lockers are in at the high school and you been in the building yet to see them. It's a dramatic difference in terms of how the interior of the building looks. It's just much brighter. It looks new. And obviously the lockers, which is the most important part, are functional. We've also added some benches for students to sit in some of the hallways so they don't have to sit on the floor anymore due to the way the lockers were installed in a double stack configuration. So we had some more wall space. They look great.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:03:55]:
The middle school lockers, as of recording this, are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. And that's going to be a race to the finish to get those put in. So I can't comment yet in terms of how they look, but hopefully they're in by the time students show up orientation so they can get their combination. So looking forward to that getting done here in the next hopefully few days. Furniture was also a big piece that we worked on throughout the year last year to get different samples of classroom furniture, evaluate those, get feedback from our teachers and students. For the middle and high school as well. That's gone very well. Over the summer.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:04:24]:
New furniture has been installed throughout the majority of the classrooms at the two buildings. Still waiting for some odds and ends to show up here over the last few days. But again, I'm fairly confident that's all going to be in place by the time students arrive for the first day of school. And again, furniture is. It's functional. It allows for a modular or flexible seating arrangement in class, which is a huge instructional piece. So it's more than just having new furniture, so to speak. It's providing teachers with this additional modality to allow them to be flexible within how they set up different student engagement processes within their classroom.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:04:57]:
And so we've been piloting this for years. And now all staff will have an opportunity to experiment and engage different practices that really facilitate students working individually, in small groups, large groups, whatever type of configuration is most conducive to the particular lesson that's being taught in a given day. So very excited to see what the future holds for teachers now that they have this additional tool in their classroom. And then the two athletic components of the Bond, which was not focused on athletics, but there were two athletic pieces were the softball and tennis courts. As folks might have seen over the summer, the tennis construction was supplemented by a $200,000 grant from the United States Tennis Association. This is the largest grant they have ever given out. And so again, I just want to credit our athletic Paige Paulson for the work on that, seeing all the things that took place behind the scenes to make that possible. He worked on this for six months times.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:05:48]:
We weren't sure which way it was going to go, but he saw it through and every dollar helps. But that $200,000 grant is really going to make a substantive difference in terms of the quality of the courts once they get completed. So we had some summer rain storms that I'm sure everybody noticed when their power went out. Some of those have caused a little bit of a delay due to some of the impact that had on the construction. But again, we're confident that should be done without too much delay for the fall sp. And then finally, softball is the last bond project that was originally slated to begin in the summer of 2027. However, we know that the girls lose a lot of games because of rain because the field doesn't drain properly. And so we really pushed to see if we could push that project up in the Bond timeline and we were able to do that.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:06:31]:
So construction started this summer on the softball field. We originally called it phase one, but the way it's looking now, which is again a positive, is they're going to continue to work through that construction all non stop all the way through February and have hopefully have the entire project completed in time for next spring softball season, which will be fantastic because the girls won't lose practice time, game time due to the condition of the field. And it'll be one of the nicest softball complexes in the area, if not the nicest. So really looking forward to that getting completed. It's behind the middle school. You know, next time you're over that way you can stop by and kind of see all the work in progress. It's kind of fun to watch and see how that progresses from week to week. But those were our four big bond projects that were actually getting constructed over the summer or taking place over the summer.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:07:16]:
A lot of work continues to take place on the flagship aspect of the bond, which is the new Explorer Elementary School. We've made significant progress in terms of the design of the building. I look forward to sharing updates on that with our staff when they return so they can kind of see how that's evolved. So a lot going on with the bond, a lot of progress and looking forward to sharing that with the community as they filter back into the buildings for the new school year. And we'll keep that going here for the next several years. There's a lot of important, much needed upgrades that'll take place as a result of the community support.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:07:45]:
Now, Dr. Spina, are there going to be projects that that will be happening throughout the school year or will the community primarily be seeing these type of projects through summer projects before we get into large scale building?
Dr. Adam Spina [00:08:00]:
So we'll start to see projects taking place during the school year over the course of the 2526 school year. Two that I know of that'll start during the school year will be the construction of the new Explore elementary that is tentatively scheduled to have groundbreaking sometime in March or April. The other project that people will see, which will be sometime in the spring again I'm estimating April at this point subject to change, is going to be the replacement of the H Vac system in the community pool. That seems like a pretty straightforward thing, but it's actually very complicated because of the size of the H Vac system in in the pool. The pool is actually built around it, so you can't just take it out. So it's actually going to require the construction company to open up the roof, hoist out the old system and then obviously do the repair work for that while they simultaneously installed a new H Vac system. So that's a very expensive and time consuming project. I know it seems like it would straightforward, but it's not.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:08:53]:
But in order to keep the community pool functioning, the replacement of what we call the pool pack or the H Vac, where that facility is going to take place, I'm guessing sometime in April as we are estimating it currently. And that's going to go on for the next several years. So we kind of had a lull this past year because it was part of the planning process. Now construction started and it's going to continue through August of 2028. So there's going to be a lot going on. It's going to be noisy, dirty, inconvenient at times, a little bit messy, but when we're through it all, it's going to be really, really nice. And so I'm looking forward through some of these tough times, these inconvenient times with the construction. But like I said, when it's all said and done, it's going to be awesome.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:09:30]:
Facilities that are really conducive to learning, safety and what our students in our community deserve. So it'll be a good thing. I also want to touch on, since you brought it up, some of the other projects that we have going on that are not related to the bond and these are funded through different mechanisms. The sinking fund in particular, we've had some donations and grants that have contributed to these as well. So just to name a few, this summer the high school fire suppression system was completely removed and replace students or even guests at the high school have probably noticed from time to time over the last few years the system would go off. It was working, but it would go off when it didn't need to. And so that was like about a $320,000 replacement that was funded with the sinking fund, but that will be installed and ready to go by August 13th before school starts. So that was a major non bond related project that took place over the summer.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:10:17]:
We've also added some things that folks may or may not be able to see. We've improved the drainage at the football field. We've added an ADA compliant walking path out behind the baseball stadium that connects the SOCCE facility and the tennis facility to the baseball press box. So folks will be able to walk along that walking path. Now as always, we continue to improve with safety. We've added additional card readers, additional security cameras and additional security safety film in key locations throughout the district. This is in addition to safety film cameras and card readers that were added last school year. We also had several startup grants that were earned by our preschool program and we've been able to use those funds to add additional safety components and upgrade some of the classroom spaces at our preschool named new cabinetry, new flooring furniture and so those have been important upgrades.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:11:05]:
We're even adding a new in classroom restroom for students that'll be much more conducive to using time effectively for those young Learners. And then the last one I'll mention is again, through the sinking fund and our tech budget, we were able to upgrade the projectors in our middle and high school classrooms and install new pull down screens for the projectors to be projected on. And that'll be a nice upgrade for instruction in those classrooms. Larger, sharper, more easy to use projectors in those classrooms. And so that was a big task for our tech team over the summer and they were successful in getting that accomplished.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:11:37]:
Now, I know that every year when you're working with your staff and preparing the staff for the new year, typically you have a theme and something that, that all of the staff are working toward as they're not only preparing their classrooms to welcome back the students, but really preparing for the entire year. Is there a theme this year and tell us more about it.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:11:57]:
We've titled the theme for this year Building for the Future. And I think the obvious connection there is we are literally building all over the district in terms of bond work and other projects that are taking place and enhancing our facilities. But I think it runs deeper than that. We have this tradition of success in Williamston and we're extremely proud of that. But we can't rest on our laurel, so to speak. Right. So I've made the analogy to our staff this year, that team that wins the super bowl, it's awesome, but they're back in the weight room probably to next week, getting ready for the next season. And so we have to have that mindset and we do, of continuous growth and continuous improvement.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:12:32]:
And so as we look to the future, there's a lot of things going on this year besides just the construction of new facilities. And these items include the adoption of new curriculum, some of which will be implemented this year. In particular, new math curriculum for grades K through 8. But we're also piloting new English language arts curriculum at our middle school. And then we've had several other curricular adoptions over the last several years that we're still learning and refining school safety processes. Again, we're continuing to focus on those and improve in that area. And then a lot of our internal systems and supports in terms of how we address student need are under review this year. And we're doing that not because necessarily we've identified problems or issues, but because there's always opportunity for growth and improvement.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:13:13]:
And so we've brought in some consultants that will help us with that and allow us to get better at what we do. And so again with that mindset that we always want to get better continuous growth and improvement this year. We really are building these systems now so that we will execute with excellence over the next several years. And so thus the phrase building for the future. The construction is very important, but it's also these other things as well. And then lastly, I'll just note that just like every year over the summer, we're very busy with hiring new staff. This year we have a great team of new educators and support staff that'll be coming in to the district, and I look forward to introducing them and having them meet with parents and students as the school year gets going over the next few weeks.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:13:51]:
Always an exciting time as we prepare for a new school year and bringing students back and bringing new staff in. And I'm really excited to be able to kick off the year with all of you as your kids get ready to jump back into this new school year. Dr. Spina, thanks so much for being being here for all of these updates today. I know we'll be continuing to hear from you as things move forward, and it will be a great opportunity to be able to see all of the progress that's being made within the district, both in building for the future as well as just moving forward with all of the goals that we've set in preparing students for success. As always, if you've got any concerns, issues, comments, feel free to reach out. I know Dr. Spina loves it when people actually reach out and talk to him and so that he can actually hear concerns and issues.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:14:41]:
Please do reach out and communicate. And as always, we will be back again in the future to be able to provide you an opportunity to learn more about all of the amazing people and things that are happening within our schools. So until next time, thanks so much and we'll talk to you again soon.
Dr. Adam Spina [00:15:06]:
Sam.
