MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — Music and cheers filled the gymnasium at Mt. Juliet Middle School as students celebrated a rite of passage.
"None of the students who are presently at West Wilson Middle have experienced a pep rally until today," said 7th-grade teacher Meagan Maxwell. She taught at West Wilson Middle School before part of the building was destroyed by a tornado in 2020.
But for the first time since then, West Wilson Middle School finally got its chance to celebrate in the classic middle school fashion.
"So it is odd... I guess, to someone who's not in the building all of the time, that you're having a pep rally for your school, but at another school," said Maxwell. "But to us, we're just trying to make it work right now."
After the tornado, sixth and seventh graders moved into Mt. Juliet Middle School, while eighth graders found a home at Mt. Juliet High.
"So it was just a great feeling to have the staff together all under one building for the first time in three years," said West Wilson Middle School principal, Dr. Deante Alexander.
Uniting a divided school is no easy job, but he's the one charged with the task.
"Some days my schedule is like a ping-pong game," said Alexander. "So, I'm here one building one particular part of the day; I'm in the next building another particular part of the day."
On the wall of his office hangs the future of West Wilson Middle School — renderings of what will be the new building.
"So, when I see this, I see nothing but sacrifice, and we're sacrificing for something that's better to come in the future," Alexander said.
Students hope to return home to their new building in time for the 2024-2025 school year. It will include storm shelter areas in parts of the building.
Until then, they're celebrating any moment together.
"One of the things that we highly enforced is, 'togetherness is our strength, but excellence is our standard,' and that is something that we live by," said Alexander, proving that it's not a building that makes a school — it's the people in it.
Meanwhile, the construction of Stoner Creek Elementary School is nearing completion. It was also heavily damaged by the tornado. Officials hope to have students in the classrooms before the winter break of 2022.
