The Rainier Beach High School Replacement Project has been a long time coming, and the work is now underway in full force. Our team was there to speak to those involved and showcase the construction being done to outfit the community with a state-of-the-art high school.

“It’s surreal,” Community Lead Virginia Bethea said. “It feels like an achievement that we worked so hard for and now is finally happening.”

The process has been heavily focused on the community, bringing business owners, community leaders and former RBHS students together to create a plan which involved all parties and aims to ensure the best outcomes.

There’s been a lot of infrastructure and a lot of efforts to have intentional diversity on the workforce side,” Senior Project Manager for Lydig Construction Patrick McGlothlin said. “We’ve built great relationships with people and groups and have come from the ground up on how we build a workforce.”

“We know the industry has work to do, and it’s a problem we can fix,” Diversity Inclusion Outreach Manager Diahnna Núñez said.

Rainier Beach High School alumni Arlando Norwood is one member of the workforce who is grateful for the opportunity to grow his skills and open new pathways.

“I realized I didn’t want to go to college, and then I got the opportunity to do construction. Before that call happened, I used to say I would never do construction - I didn’t think I could do it,” Norwood said.

Fellow RBHS alumni Israel Presley worked on the project during his senior year of high school, advocating for student resources and pushing for a renovation to take place.

“One of our main demands was making sure this school happened. I was in the actual school board rooms during my senior year, and going from there to working through this process and watching how everything worked together, it’s amazing,” Presley said.

You can watch the video to see more about the project.