School Dedicates Renovated Gym

Students taking indoor gym classes at Viewpoint School will be cool in the summer and warm in the winter now that renovations have been completed at the facility.

Administrators, teachers, staff, parents and students turned out for a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week to dedicate the newly renovated Rasmussen Family Pavilion, said Lisa Olson, communications director at the independent school.

The facility is named for Dean Rasmussen, whose $75,000 contribution was the renovation project’s largest, Olson said. Rasmussen’s children attended the school and his grandchildren are currently enrolled there.

Rasmussen’s donation combined with gifts from other parents helped to pay for new air conditioning, heating, ventilation, lighting and sound systems and other improvements, Olson said.

“We are very proud to have such a fantastic facility for sports, music and special events,” said Headmaster Robert J. Dworkoski. “I know how much the students will enjoy it.”

Work on the building was done over summer vacation, Olson said, so most of the students didn’t get their first look at the refurbished facility until the dedication ceremony, Olson said.

The restless students couldn’t wait until the speeches by Dworkoski, middle school student council president Kate Basmagian and upper school student council president Shilpa Rajpara were over to race around on the hardwood floor, Olson said.

Power Pete the Patriot, the school mascot, whipped the crowd into a cheering frenzy as Rasmussen and his grandchildren, Makenzie and Blake Rasmussen, snipped a ribbon, Olson said.

Sophomore Matt Matrisciano slam-dunked a basketball and Kareem Shaarawy shot a free throw to dedicate the new nets on the basketball hoops, Olson said.

At last, the students burst out of the bleachers and onto the floor, Olson said.

“This facility is a big boost to our sports teams and the kids taking physical-education classes in the building,” she said.