WARDEN - Warden High School's vocational building, built in 1959, is getting a $1 million upgrade thanks to a capital projects levy passed by voters in February.

Over the next two years, the levy provides $1 million for additional space, new welding equipment, upgrades to heating and electric systems and a new greenhouse.

The $2.5 million levy voters approved in 2009 provided funds for renovating the vocational building, but the additional funds allow the school district to make more significant improvements to the building, said Superintendent Sandra Sheldon.

The expanded building will be upgraded with up-to-date technology, "so we can manage to provide education for the 21st century," she said.

The school district would like to start construction in late February 2013 and estimates they can complete the project in six to seven months, said Sheldon. The school district will be awarded funding from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in July. Starting construction in late February or early March of 2013 would allow sixth months of classes to continue to be held in the building, she said. The construction would only disrupt three months worth of classes, whereas if construction started in August, it would likely take most of the school year to complete.

The school district hasn't yet decided what to do for those three months of classes when the building won't be available, she said. The school district will work with the principal and the teachers involved to see where classes can be moved to.

Students may work on projects outside of a classroom or share classroom space in the main school building, she said.

Charlie Dansie, one of the school district's vocational instructors, envisions the renovated building improving student safety.

The school has to keep class sizes down to ensure safety, he said. Having a newer, bigger facility will allow the high school to meet student demand.

Agriculture and vocational programs are important in Warden, said Sheldon.

"What we're trying to do is not just teach these kids how to work with metal and how to work with wood, but also how to do agribusiness," she said, adding that agribusiness is a global enterprise. "Agribusiness is something that fuels Grant County ... We're trying to prepare (students) to be able to get into the agribusiness career pathways if they want to and give them some of those ... entry-level skills."

The vocational program emphasizes employability standards, things like getting to class on time, working as a team, and having good attendance, said Sheldon.

"Many of our students go on to post-secondary education, but a lot of them go right into the workforce, and so getting them ready for that workforce is really an important skill that they have to have," she said. "So we're excited that we're going to get this place to hopefully have some state-of-the-art equipment and upgrade it so there's more than one or two (electrical) plug-ins in the room."

"Right now, we do wood and metal right here," said vocational instructor Todd Kisler. "And it's tough to keep things kind of separated and clean and away from each other ... It'll give us a little more floor space to do the bigger projects."

Kisler, who teaches horticulture among other vocational classes, said the school will also benefit from the bigger greenhouse the school district hopes to buy. When the current greenhouse is full of flowers, there's little room for students to work, he said