At Pyynikki at last: read about our moving day!
On Tuesday morning, February 3rd, the first moving loads arrived in the upper secondary school yard.
The students began their Tuesday morning with their homeroom teacher, and the day included an orientation tour of the building as well as an information session held by the principal. After that, it was time for the very first lesson in the new school.
Finding the classrooms was exciting — the students had toured the new building earlier in the morning, but it’s unlikely that everyone immediately remembered where all the rooms were. During the break, the hallways were filled with laughter and cheerful voices, so moving from one classroom to another seemed to be quite fun.
During this first week, most of the teaching equipment and supplies are still packed away in moving boxes. Teachers and staff are unpacking, but there are many boxes, and it may take several days to get through them all. The temporary lack of equipment means that some subjects may follow an alternative schedule.
However, the start of studies doesn’t wait for the move to be completed: on Wednesday, February 4th, students follow their regular timetable.
When an entire upper secondary school moves — with all its sports equipment, musical instruments, and library collections, not to mention the supplies for chemistry, physics, and other subjects — there is certainly plenty of work to be done. However, this move has been prepared for over many years, so the plans have been clear for a long time.
The move has gone smoothly, and everything has progressed on schedule. The move coordinator Anna Suhonen compares the process to a huge jigsaw puzzle: “Moving something this large is quite the puzzle — lots of moving parts and things to figure out. For example, we have four different transport and moving companies involved. This move is a major effort for all of us teachers, especially since it overlaps with the exam week, grading, and also the senior festivities, which bring their own challenges to the mix. But we have waited a long time to finally get to Pyynikki, so the reward is definitely worth all the effort!”
The staff has approached the move with great enthusiasm. There is plenty to do before every item finds its place. Yet the strong team spirit among the teachers is evident in the move as well: there is a lot of work, but colleagues help one another, and preparing the new teaching spaces for use feels enjoyable when done together.
Moving into a new school is a big change, but the students are approaching it with a positive attitude.
On the second floor, there are comfortable sofa areas for students to use during breaks or free periods. They were already put to good use on the very first day.
Community matters to Pyynikki students: chatting with a new or old friend can really brighten the school day, and in a large school it’s important to feel like you belong.
“We immediately got a sense of community when we arrived here in the morning,” say Jenna Mattila ja Vilma Vehmas. They are both in their third and final year of upper secondary school, but the move naturally affects the graduating students as well, who will take their matriculation exams in March in the new facilities.
“This was something we had been looking forward to. We get to graduate from a nice place,” says Aino Lammi, who is also one of Pyynikki Upper Secondary School’s graduating students.
Ella Harju ja Saana Hautala were also featured in the photos.
The move began this week, but the moving atmosphere and the process of learning new routines will continue for quite some time. Now it’s time to enjoy the new surroundings and to make sure that, along with all the boxes, the intangible capital from the old school also makes the transition: diligence, conscientiousness, a sense of community, the joy of working together, respect for others, the desire to help one another, and the right to be oneself.
