Indoor practice facility Hughes' latest game
A dream five years in the making became reality Friday afternoon at Hughes STEM High School.
Indoor practice facility Hughes' latest game A dream five years in the making became reality Friday afternoon at Hughes STEM High School. Check out this story on cincinnati.com: http://cin.ci/27JH7nL
John Snodgrass, jsnodgrass@enquirer.com Published 9:42 p.m. ET May 20, 2016
A crowd of contributors, athletes and well-wishers attended the dedication of the new facility Friday afternoon.(Photo: Provided)
A dream five years in the making became reality Friday afternoon at Hughes STEM High School. Hughes athletic director, Jolinda Miller, along with 10 others including students, faculty, Cincinnati Public schools representatives and local benefactors cut a ribbon to open the school's new indoor practice facility, The Mack.
"This is everything I could have ever dreamed it could be," Miller said following the ceremony. "There are no words to describe seeing a dream from start to finish and that's exactly what happened. I dreamed this thing up, everyone helped out, and here we are with an ending. It's the end of the dream but the opening of the facility, it's just the beginning for these Hughes students."
The new facility, which used to house the school's swimming pool, has been converted into a practice area that includes a basketball court, hoops, a section of artificial grass and a batting cage. The project was brought about through a collaborative effort by Hughes, Cincinnati Public Schools, Impact 100, Activities Beyond the Classroom and the Reds Community Fund.
"I am so excited, this is an amazing day, I am overwhelmed," Hughes principal, Kathy Wright said. "This space symbolizes a commitment that this community has to our children, to their development as full human beings."
Miller had the idea to transform the old pool area into an indoor facility when she walked through the space five years ago. In recent years the space was being used as a storage facility for old desks and chairs. She sought out help from the school's administration, CPS and local groups until she was finally able to procure the funds and the help needed to make the dream a reality.
The facility is named after Willard Mack Scott, the grandfather of Hillary Scott Tyrrell, the co-lead singer of the multi-Grammy-award-winning country group Lady Antebellum. Scott Tyrrell got involved with the project through her long-standing friendship with Miller. Unfortunately, due to an emergency in the family, the musician was not able to attend Friday's event, but she did record a video that was played at the dedication.
"We are just so honored by this beautiful facility being named after one of the most important men in our lives," Scott Tyrrell said in her video message. "He was a hardworking man, so athletic, loved sports growing up. He played football and was a proponent of teams and teamwork. He felt, if you were a good teammate you would be a good coworker when you got out into the work place."
Miller said the students were abuzz when they walked through the facility earlier in the day, Friday. One such student was recent graduate and future Cincinnati Bearcat, Tiona Lattimore. The track standout was smiling from ear-to-ear as she posed for photos in front of a giant banner of her own image.
"This is beautiful, I really admire everything that's been done," Lattimore said. "I won't get to use it, but I think it will be good for our students. It's an opportunity for us to better ourselves and our athletics. I'm just a little jealous because we didn't get a chance to use this place."
An opportunity for students to better themselves was the dream that Miller and everyone associated with Friday's opening had for the facility.
"There was possibility and hope to turn this area into something special," Miller said.
"In turn, I hope our kids can become something special. I don't want to live an ordinary life and I don't want our students to live an ordinary life, either. I want them to be extraordinary in everything they do. I want (our students) to be able to dream big and I want us as a staff and as a community to give them every tool available so they can seize their moment and make their way in this life."
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