Colony High gym open again

PALMER — After 73 days, Colony High students finally had to chance to use the school’s gymnasium Monday.

The gym had been closed since the 7.0 earthquake that rocked Southcentral Alaska Nov. 30, 2018. The area of the school sustained significant structural damage, including both corner stairways. The vent system also had to be fixed.

“It was kind of stressful actually...All of a sudden the lights went out, the shaking happened,” Colony principal Brendon McMahon recalled. “The stressful part as a principal is like, ok we’ve got our 1,200 people here, our students and staff. We had no idea what, especially since it was dark.”

In the 73 days since the quake, Colony has had to continue their gym classes without the use of the main gym. Colony’s athletic teams were also affected by the immediate closure of the gym after it was deemed unsafe. The ski team was unable to access their skis for weeks following, and the basketball teams have had to find other gyms to practice and play games.

“(Feb. 22) we host West Valley and we would love to see a full house for our girls team,” McMahon said.

Despite the lack of availability of their own home gym, the Knights girls’ basketball team is fresh off a win in the Maroon bracket of the Lady Lynx Shootout. Since Nov. 30, Colony’s basketball teams have practiced at Teeland Middle, Palmer Junior Middle, Colony Middle, and Wasilla High.

“Really all the other main gyms in the core area here have been in play in some way or another through Kristy Johnston our athletic director and all the other AD’s just kind of rolling up their sleeves, making it work. The Valley is always supportive of one another so they’ve been really good with that. It has been strange having home contests over at Wasilla,” McMahon said.

Through the coordination of the three gym teachers and staff, classes have continued on without a hitch during the repair. F-E Contracting submitted the lowest bid to complete the work valued just under $100,000. Each corner stairway is still not accessible to students as workers complete the rest of the repairs needed. The stairways were one of the most dramatic immediate effects of the quake, along with the vents coming out of the wall at a 45-degree angle, according to McMahon. McMahon said that the same concrete masonry unit alignment that caused walls to fail at Houston Middle School was also the cause of the damage to the stairwells.

“It was all brick and it sort of failed. A lot of it fell down at the bottom of that stairwell. There was about (500) or 600 lbs of brick that fell down,” McMahon said.

McMahon credited not only students, but parents in acting quickly and calmly to safely evacuate the school’s 1,100 students on Nov. 30.

“We were able to give instructions to the students and staff to do what we needed to do to maintain order and keep things from getting pretty panicky. Then from that point the kids were super cooperative, the parents were unbelievably cooperative,” McMahon said. “With the earthquake people were super. I think they realized that this is a real situation and let’s all just kind of roll up our sleeves and take care of business so that was refreshing to see.”

With repair to the gym, Colony is set to finish out their schedule in their home gym. McMahon’s son Patrick is a standout on the boys’ team who have three tournament titles on their resume this year, all without a home gym.

“It was difficult for the kids. I think the biggest thing is kids like Sullivan who are seniors, everybody kind of dreams of their senior year playing in their home gym,” McMahon said. “They’ve had a crazy season. The schedule they’ve been through was tough to begin with and it even got tougher when we had to play outside all this time. The miles they’ve logged and the teams they’ve played is amazing. One of the three final home games is against Wasilla. That’ll be a great game because we lost over there in early January so it’s going to be fun.”

McMahon noted that the girls’ team is enjoying a successful season as well.

“They’ve got a strong team, people would not want to sleep on them,” McMahon said.

One of the factors in managing the gym classes for 1,100 students was keeping students engaged and active without occupying their largest space. Gym classes were donated 20 Cornhole boards for use while the gym was being repaired.

Colony High physical education teacher Mark Strabel said the closure of the school’s main gym gave him a chance to get creative with the curriculum.

“It made me think more outside of the box,” Strabel said.

Strabel and fellow Colony PE teachers Steve Henderson and Hollan Gravely put together the game plan.

“I saw it as an opportunity to do something different,” Strabel said.

Strabel said his class size averages from about 36 to 40 students. The Colony PE teachers created their plan with the expectation that the school’s large gym would not be available for the remainder of the school year. That left the school’s small gym, which doubles as the wrestling room, and the weight room. Strabel said plans also included the use of hallways and common areas and the school, and the teachers looked for opportunities to get the students outside.

“A lot of different activities,” Strabel said.

New activities included Cornhole, a popular backyard recreation that has gained more of a buzz on the competitive level.

“It’s bigger and more mainstream. Kids are kind of getting fired up about it,” Strabel said of Cornhole, which includes a raised board with a hole that competitors aim to throw a weighted bag through at a set distance.

Overall, McMahon said that the cooperation following the earthquake has been outstanding.

“They’ve understood that safety is obviously going to take precedent,” McMahon said. “It was a real wakeup call.”

Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz contributed to this story. Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.