News Photo by Julie Goldberg The Alpena High School library, seen here on Wednesday, will have some bookshelves removed and have new, permanent Chromebook fixtures next school year.

ALPENA — Alpena High School students will see some changes when they go back to school in the fall.

Upgrades will take place to the senior lounge and library, while new project-based learning classrooms will be added.

Principal Thomas Berriman said the school is slowly transforming because there are different learning options for students, like the Career and Technical Education program, dual enrollment, and Early College Program, and the upgrades to the school help students with those options.

“The goal is to produce 21st century graduates,” Berriman said. “It’s different than what they’re used to, but education has come to the point now where we have to change the way we do things.”

Berriman said the library will be transformed so it has a student union type of feel to it.

“It will be more of a place where students can go,” Berriman said.

Outdated books that students didn’t use have been removed because they were too old to help students now.

“We definitely want to keep books in there, but it’s got to be books that the kids use, so we’re slowly weaning that out, cutting some shelving units down,” Berriman said.

There will be new, permanent Chromebook fixtures to replace the outdated computers in the library.

The senior lounge will also be cleaned and transformed into a room that has the feel of being in college, Berriman said. It will get some new furniture and be a place seniors can use for studying.

“We like having a place where they can go and they can congregate, just something special for that group of kids,” Berriman said. “It will be more of a study place, more of a union, college union feel. It’s just needed.”

This year’s juniors have been told about the changes coming to the senior lounge, Berriman said.

“I think once they get in there and understand what we’re trying to accomplish, they will certainly understand where we’re coming from,” he said. “It’s just different.”

The upgrades to the library and senior lounge will be completed using grants and school budget money.

There will also be more project-based learning classrooms in D-House at the high school. Next year’s sophomores are taking two new project-based learning courses next year, Science in the Bay and World Perspectives, so more classrooms will be added this summer. Those classrooms will replace old computer labs.

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.