The Vida Agency team recently took part in a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the official start of the construction phase of the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Rainier Beach High School rebuild. Thanks to the 2019 Building Excellence V school levy and a tremendous amount of advocacy and commitment from the Rainier Beach High School community throughout the past decade, a new Rainier Beach High School will be built to offer first-class resources to the next generation of students.
Lydig Construction, known for their commitment to workforce diversity, was hired to replace Rainier Beach High School with the new state of the art facility. The new 233,700 square foot, multi-story high school will offer permanent space for 1,600 students grades 9-12.
The groundbreaking ceremony gathered many including Rainier Beach High School Board Director Betty Patu, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, NBA legend and RBHS alumnus Jamal Crawford, Seattle City Councilman Girmay Zahilay, Coach Michael Bethea, current RBHS Principal Ivory Brooks and former Principal Dwane Chappelle, Lydig Construction Project Manager, Patrick McGlothlin, Moody Nolan Architects Principal, Earl Lee, and RBHS alumni Naj Ali, Ahlaam Ibrahim, Gian Rasario, Israel Presley, and Arlando Norwood. Presley and Norwood, now Lydig Carpenter Apprentices will help rebuild their school as part of the Lydig Construction team.
Since the Rainier Beach High School rebuild project began in Spring 2021, the TVA team has been working collaboratively with Lydig Construction and Converge Media to amplify the opportunities generated by the project for the Rainier Beach community. Converge media, specialists in video storytelling for the Northwest’s Black community, has been integral in helping to bring each phase of the RBHS rebuild journey to life. They were with us at the Groundbreaking to capture the resiliency of the Rainier Beach community and to help ensure every voice was heard. Have a watch below.