Benson High School to offer a variety of medical care with new $6.6 million addition - Lincoln Journal Star

Lauren Wagner Omaha World-Herald

A circuit of Bluestem Middle School inactive nether operation astatine 5910 South 42nd Street successful Omaha connected Friday, December 16, 2022. The caller Omaha Public Schools mediate schoolhouse volition unfastened for students successful autumn 2023.

OMAHA -- Benson High School volition soon person a face-lift successful bid to bring important wellness attraction services to students, unit and the community.

The schoolhouse is nearing the commencement of a $6.6 cardinal operation project, which includes a two-story wellness attraction summation and renovated northbound entrance.

Omaha Public Schools officials accidental this volition beryllium the archetypal school-based session successful the territory to location respective aggregate wellness providers.

The Charles Drew Health Center, Methodist Health, Project Harmony and the University of Nebraska Medical Center are splitting the 10,000-square-foot abstraction that volition service some the schoolhouse and the Benson neighborhood. Students volition beryllium capable to person low-cost oregon escaped services depending connected the provider, according to the district.

“It’s easier for galore parents to person those services astatine the extremity of the schoolhouse time oregon the opening of the schoolhouse day,” said Charles Wakefield, main operations serviceman for OPS. “They’re determination anyway, truthful it’s benignant of tying that unneurotic to marque it arsenic casual arsenic imaginable for families. It’s besides a spot our students spot arsenic good — it’s not immoderate nondescript gathering retired successful a vicinity that they’re tense about.”

The Benson High summation begins with a glass-paneled, modern northbound entrance. The gathering volition person a plaza country with sculptural seating that besides tin beryllium utilized for outdoor instruction.

A 2,500-square-foot Charles Drew Medical Clinic, featuring mostly dental services, volition beryllium connected the archetypal floor. It volition person 2 dental bays, 3 exam rooms and a learning space, which volition beryllium shared among the schoolhouse and each 4 providers.

A ample stairway successful the main entranceway leads to the 2nd floor, which includes offices for Methodist, Project Harmony and UNMC, a shared interruption country and different learning space.

Community members, unit and students volition beryllium capable to entree household therapy, teacher grooming and pupil grooming — specified arsenic parenting classes — done Methodist. Project Harmony, a assets for kid maltreatment services and training, volition connection intelligence wellness and therapy sessions.

As portion of Benson’s wellness professions academy, UNMC volition negociate student-led nationalist wellness initiatives and pupil probe projects.

“Students volition beryllium benignant of interacting and larn what existent wellness professionals redeeming lives is like. It volition assistance them recognize what that is arsenic they modulation done assemblage to grow,” Wakefield said.

The OPS committee approved the task astatine a Nov. 28 meeting. Construction is planned to statesman this summertime and has a completion day of September 2024.

The thought to bring much services to Benson High started with 2 alumni: Paul Brown and his wife, Djel Ann Brown, some from the people of 1958.

Brown said the pair, on with different alumni, noticed passim the years that Benson students weren’t capable to entree wellness attraction arsenic easy arsenic different schoolhouse communities.

“It was evidently thing that was a precise aggravated request successful the school, truthful we acceptable astir fundraising, and we solicited our classmates, archetypal of all, and past we were capable to get immoderate some large donations,” Brown said.

Brown and different classmates formed the Benson Foundation successful 2019 and yet raised $300,000 for the project. But it wasn’t capable and readying stalled.

“We began reducing the size of the summation to effort to marque it a feasible objective. And portion we were going done those revisions, I got a telephone from Superintendent (Cheryl Logan),” Brown said. “She said, ‘We would similar to person the schoolhouse territory spouse with you successful processing that wellness attraction center.’”

Along with the foundation’s money, the territory volition beryllium utilizing national COVID-19 dollars to money the project.

“It’s a mode to springiness back, and it’s conscionable precise fulfilling to beryllium capable to spot these things happening,” Brown said.