Mattoon school district's LIFT (Leaders Innovating for Tomorrow) houses a regional innovation center for the surrounding 28 school districts in the area. The six-story, 50,000 square foot center offers a variety of work-ready and leadership training programs.
Programs include culinary arts, manufacturing and construction trades, HVAC, information technology, childcare, communications, and a leadership institute. LIFT focuses on developing young adults by teaching leadership to every student, creating a culture of student empowerment, and aligning systems to drive results in academics.
Explore. Lead. LIFT. Download the ILJAC 2023 Presentation HERE!
- Adaptive Reuse
- Leadership Training
- Work-ready Programming
- Serves 28 Regional Districts
- Hands-On Learning
- Makerspaces
Located at the heart of a small town that is rich in history, the 1928 building is a symbol of the community. Since 1975, the facility previously housed an innovative company that specialized in connecting others through technology and a workplace that valued collaboration and idea sharing.
Today, the iconic building and site provide the opportunity to serve future generations. With the ability to use the site virtually as it was, design focus was directed to renovating the inside. The facility is now a direct reflection of the values and efforts that lived within its walls for years prior, re-imagined to house a community of students from different backgrounds available to 28 school districts.
Logan was connected with a partnering company through the center, interviewed for a full-time apprenticeship as an Industrial Maintenance Technician, tested, and got
the position. He will be working full-time, and the company will also send him to a local community college for his Industrial Maintenance Certification, giving him a raise once he finishes!
This regional innovation and technology center is a central hub for students to prepare for college or careers straight out of high school. The facility has been designed to support programs for Communications, Childcare, Information Technology, HVAC/Green Energy, Manufacturing, Architecture & Construction, Leadership, Culinary Arts and Hospitality.
- District Leader
With a building of over 175 years old, Springfield PSD was looking for renovations to bring existing conditions back to its original state of the art facility standards.
As a component of the April 2019 referendum, Hixson Middle School was to be expanded so that it could receive the school district’s sixth grade students after another district facility transitioned from a single grade and specialty school to a K-5 elementary school. The current middle school, originally opened in 1955, would require both renovations and building additions to accommodate the increase in student population.
Through renovations and an addition to a 1950s-era building on a tight city footprint, an engaging, innovative and inviting high school, focused on providing modern facilities to support digital learning, academic achievement and fine arts and athletic excellence was developed. While the student population was highly achieving, the existing school did not reflect the student merit.