Vicksburg High School’s future began Monday with a few shovelfuls of dirt.

“This project that we’re embarking on today for Vicksburg High School will provide a world-class facility that will support the transformation the district has already done,” Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Chad Shealy told the more than 100 people attending the project’s groundbreaking.

He said the project’s final result “is something special you can’t find anywhere else. This is an extraordinary day in Vicksburg, Mississippi.”

The ceremonial act officially kicked off the start of the $37 million renovation and remodeling project for Vicksburg High; the first step in a $132 million district-wide a project to overhaul and remodel existing school buildings and athletic facilities and build an new Academy of Innovation in an effort to create a better and more inviting atmosphere for learning.

The renovations to Vicksburg High are expected to be completed by 2021. The next project is a $26.3 million renovation project at Warren Central High School.

Planning for this improvement program has included more than school district officials. It has involved people from the community, faculty, staff and students for their opinions on the work.

Gary Bailey, who is managing the Vicksburg Warren School District’s facilities plan for Dale Bailey Architecture, said the students “Were involved in the design of the building when we sat down at the table and started creating sketches for what it’s going to be, and they shared their vision, they shared their passion and excitement for what their school could be,” he said.

“That’s what makes us happy, and that’s what makes me sleep well at night,” he said, “To be involved in not just buildings, but educational environments. We’re training the minds and hearts of young people, and this building is part of the tools to do that.”

Training the hearts and minds of young people is the goal of any school district, and having modern, quality facilities are one part of the equation. The other depends on the school district’s ability to be able to retain and attract good teachers who can make the best use of the new tools they will have once the buildings are completed.

That will be the next challenge for the district’s Board of Trustees when all the construction is completed — ensuring they will have the teachers to match the new facilities.