The document discusses the construction of the new $21 million Grove City Middle School, which will open for the 2011-2012 school year. It notes that the project is showcasing various green technologies. The school will be 93,000 square feet and house grades 6-8, using natural daylighting through strategic window placement and orientation. Superintendent Robert Post presented on the green technologies used in the project.

1. Project touts
green tech
By MEGAN DUNCAN
Eagle Staff Writer
GROVE CITY — As spring
approaches, construction of
the $21 million Grove City
Middle School will start
back up again.
Construction slowed this
winter because of the
weather, but the school will
open for the 2011-12 school
year.
The foundation is in and
there is a rough coat of
asphalt on the parking lot
and roads.
“We’ve been showcasing a
lot of green technologies,”
Superintendent Robert Post
said.
In Pittsburgh, Post gave a
presentation specifically
about the technologies in
the project.
“It’s a trend nationwide,
but especially a trend in
Pittsburgh,” he said.
Kusevich Construction of
Pittsburgh is doing the
work.
The 93,000-square-foot
middle school will be built
at 482 E. Main St., a 48.2-
acre site that now houses
Hillview Elementary School.
The new school will house
grades six through eight.
The existing middle
school, which serves stu-
dents in grades seven and
eight, would be sold. It was
built in 1914
By locating the new
school in an east/west ori-
entation the amount of nat-
ural daylight that enters the
building will be maximized.
Locating the classrooms and
corridors along the east-
west axis allows for natural
daylight to enter nearly
every instructional space in
the building, according to
plan documents prepared
by Mark Scheller, project
architect of Eckles Archi-
tecture and Engineering.
After studying the sun
angles, windows were
placed with overhangs or
sun shades to allow sun to
enter into the building
when necessary for lighting
and heating and to block
the sun at times when the
exposure would heat in the
interior. Clerestory windows
in the corridor spaces allow
for daylight to enter the
interior spaces by direct
exposure to the sun as well
as reflection by lightly col-
ored wall surfaces. Interior
windows from the class-
rooms into the corridors
allow for indirect daylight
to enter the classrooms.
The building is situated
Sun angles
provide light
for GC school
grown the two buildings
already used by the parish.
Using the former Newman
Center, which is owned by St.
Peter Parish, will help the
parish to better create and
develop programs and events
that reach out to the communi-
ty and to make the campus
community more aware of the
resources and events available
at St. Peter.
The process, according to
Poeking and Magilocca, has
been more of a transition for
the parishioners of St Peter
than for the SRU students
involved in Catholic Campus
Ministry.
To ease the transition, the
parish has planned and hosted
events that appeal to both
parishioners and the college
students.
This past fall, the parish had
a successful first Octoberfest
and plans to repeat the event
this October. Additionally, the
parishioners helped college
students host a Mardi Gras
bingo as a fundraiser for Haiti
Relief efforts.
Poeking and Magilocca said
the parish center will plan
programs and events as they
arise and fit the needs of both
campus ministry and the
parish.
“The parish is trying to stay
open to what happens, to see
what evolves from the integra-
tion, hopefully, more of the
same,” Poeking said.
Magilocca added, “The tran-
sition has opened lots of
potential directions and
options. Now we have to wait
and see what the parishioners
want to happen.”
Working together in the new
parish center, Poeking and
Magilocca serve as an example
for the students and parish-
ioners as they transition into
new ways of doing things.
Father Poeking is relatively
new to St. Peter Parish. He
was called to the parish, a part
of the Diocese of Pittsburgh,
nine months ago after previ-
ously serving at St. Thomas in
Bethel Park and Immaculate
Conception in Washington.
Poeking grew up outside
Buffalo, N.Y., before he moved
to the Pittsburgh area to
attend college. After graduat-
ing, he decided to remain in
the area and started working
for a shipping company, which
later merged with FedEx as a
logistics analyst and strategic
business planner.
Poeking, who grew up a
Protestant, did not become
involved in the Catholic
Church until adulthood. Once
his involvement began, howev-
er, he said he “fell in love with
the church, so much so that I
decided to become a priest.”
Five and a half years ago,
following seven years in semi-
nary, he was ordained by the
Diocese of Pittsburgh.
On the other hand, Magiloc-
ca is a more familiar face at
the former Newman Center.
She has worked in campus
ministry at SRU for 15 years.
She is a Slippery Rock
native and an alumna of SRU,
graduating with a degree in
music therapy and music edu-
cation. After graduating, she
worked as a music therapist
and teacher.
Magilocca began working as
a volunteer in the church. Ulti-
mately, though, that experience
piqued her interest in youth
ministry and led her to pursue
a master’s degree in religious
education at Duquesne Uni-
versity.
Before working at SRU, the
mother of six worked at St.
Paul Roman Catholic Church
in Butler and St. Valentine in
Bethel Park.
Currently, the parish offers
numerous opportunities for
parishioners to worship. Mass-
es are held daily at either the
St. Peter church building on
Main Street or the new parish
center on campus. With four
services on Sundays and one
on Saturday evenings, the
parish is doing its best to hold
masses that fit into the sched-
ules of both the parishioners
and college students.
Magilocca and Poeking agree
the noon mass on Sundays at
the parish center is more pop-
ular with college students. It
features more contemporary
music and worship styles,
which tend to appeal to a
younger audience.
St. Peter was founded in
1938 as a mission church by St.
Fidelis Seminary. It became an
independent parish in 1955. In
1993, the parish began main-
taining both St. Peter and St.
Anthony in Forestville.
Currently, the parish has
about 750 families on the mem-
bership list.
Magilocca and Father Poek-
ing both agree it is difficult to
estimate the number of SRU
students involved in the
parish.
According to Magilocca,
there are 200 students on the
campus ministry’s e-mail con-
tact list, but many students
who do not receive those e-
mails attend masses.
The creation of university
parishes is a model that is
becoming more prevalent as
parishes attempt to remain
budget-conscious in their pro-
gramming.
For instance, the Newman
Center on the Indiana Univer-
sity of Pennsylvaia campus has
become a university parish
that not only houses church
offices, but also serves as the
local church.
Magilocca is unsure of other
parishes making similar deci-
sions, but believes the practice
might be more common in oth-
er parts of the country.
For St. Peter, she said,
“Things have slowly been
heading in this direction; there
used to be two priests and now
just one who serves both St.
Peter and campus ministry.”
Center
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■■ From Page B1
During the past year, the Newman Center in
Slippery Rock has transitioned into St. Peter
Parish Center and ROCK Catholic Ministry in a
move to integrate worship services and pro-
grams for the parishioners of St. Peter and Slip-
pery Rock University students.
JUSTIN GUIDO/BUTLER EAGLE
CLOSER LOOK
WHAT: Grove City Mid-
dle School
WHERE: 482 E. Main
St., Grove City
COST: $21 million
SIZE: 93,000 square feet
FOR WHO: Students in
sixth to eighth grades
ARCHITECT: Eckles
Architecture and Engineer-
ing
OPEN: 2011-12 school
year
■■ See School on Page B3