Tuesday October 27, marked an exciting time for St. Dominic, as construction for the new science and technology building began. A special ceremony was held to commemorate the start of a new chapter for the community, and give thanks to all those who contributed to the continuous growth and future of St. Dominic.

The groundbreaking ceremony during empower hour gathered together many important members of the St. Dominic community, along with leaders from the city of O’Fallon and the Archdiocese of St. Louis, including Mayor Bill Hennessy and Bishop Mark Rivituso. The ceremony recognized all of the people who brought the idea of a center for sciences into reality.

“Today is truly a historic day in the life of our school here at St. Dominic High School. We are built on the charism of our Dominican sisters, who founded us, of prayer, study, community and service. Those four pillars are the essentials of why we are able to build this new building, beginning construction today,” President of St. Dominic, Mr. Jim Welby, said in his opening speech.

There is definitely a lot to look forward to with this new addition. The new building will be complete in January of 2022, and will feature ten state of the art classrooms.  They will, of course, mostly be dedicated to science classes, but there will also be a journalism and broadcasting studio as well as a new Campus Ministry space.

“The center of the sciences building exists not because we’ve just grown by 100 students this past year—it is to improve on every area of our science and technology curriculum. This building gives our students an opportunity to pursue the courses that interest them,” Principal Stacey Stewart said during her speech at the ceremony.

The campaign for the building is named “Called to Lead,” and has been put into action by the members of the St. Dominic board who have worked hard to rally support for this new chapter of the school. Superintendent of Catholic education for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Mr. Todd Sweda, gave his congratulations as well.

“The campaign title is quite fitting, ‘Called to Lead.’ The call to develop young people of great competence armed with a strong educational base. The call to develop young people into courageous leaders armed with gospel values, and the call to develop young people to make this world more just and humane. The groundbreaking today is a step forward to ensuring we fulfill that special call,” Mr. Sweda said.

Following the speakers, Bishop Rivituso gave a special blessing over the grounds where the center is to be built, and prayed that it would benefit students and faculty now and in the future.

So if you hear any commotion outside of your classrooms near the lobby, just remember that all of the noise and inconvenience the construction may produce will all pay off in the future. We can’t wait to see the benefits and opportunities this new building brings to our St. Dominic community!