Cayuse stages show to show off new gym

Something will happen on Tuesday that has not happened at Cayuse Prairie School for years.

Everyone who wants to watch the school’s Christmas program will be able to do so — at the same time.

In previous years, audience members watched the Christmas program in shifts.

Parents who wanted to see their children sing beloved holiday numbers were crammed into the back of the small gym or sometimes relegated to the foyer, straining from the doorway to see their kids.

But on Tuesday, the annual program will be performed in the school’s new gymnasium and performance center, which was finished this week. The gym is the result of a $1.95 million bond issue voters approved in November 2009.

District officials and trustees asked for the bond issue to build a 7,818-square-foot gym and performing arts center, plus restrooms in the lower elementary hallway. Bond money also paid for additional parking around the new gym and two new elementary classrooms, one for kindergarten and one for first grade.

But the gym was the big selling point; officials described the school’s existing gymnasium as inadequate and unsafe.

In addition to the overcrowded Christmas programs, the gym was a problem for Cayuse Prairie’s athletics programs. The low roof made volleyball challenging and the lack of space around the outside of the basketball court meant players and referees had to be careful not to trip over spectators’ legs.

In addition to wanting more gym space, voters agreed to the bond issue because of a qualified school construction bond grant offered as one-time-only federal stimulus money.

Cayuse Prairie qualified for a very low interest rate on 15-year bonds. The grant could save the district almost $1.2 million over the life of the bonds.

Cayuse Prairie awarded the contract to Swank Enterprises last year and pressed for a Nov. 30 completion date so it could hold its Christmas program in the new gym.

Students were able to rehearse for the program in the new gym for the first time on Thursday. They will perform their skit and songs at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

With only three days to practice on the new stage, music teacher and program director Terri Miller said the performance would place the students in new territory.

“It’ll be very different for us,” she said.

Now there are several entrances to the stage so students won’t have to climb over one another or be forced to go outside as they enter and leave the stage.

In addition to a larger stage area, there are risers in front of the stage, which will allow Miller to place the school’s nearly 200 students in the performance area, “since people insist on seeing them all at one time,” she said.

The stage also will hold furniture, including music stands, and instruments for the school’s bands. Students also will be able to perform on part of the gym floor, something they were never able to do in the past because parents had to sit on the floor — or wherever else they could find room, Miller said.

This year, the audience will be in bleachers. Not only will everyone have a place to sit, with a better line of sight than audiences in years past, but the school can accommodate a larger crowd.

“Always before we had to restrict it to just immediate family. Aunts, uncles and cousins had to stay home,” Miller said. “Now we have seating for 500.”

That’s why the school is opening its Christmas program to the community. Following the program, Cayuse Prairie will host an open house to allow community members to explore the newly constructed classrooms and gym.

The open house is meant as a thank you to voters for approving the bond issue, Miller said.

For additional information, call the school at 756-4560.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.