The Thompson Education Building at Lynchburg College will be rededicated as Thompson Hall at 4 p.m. on October 3. The building has undergone a $750,000 expansion to meet the growing need for teachers and nurses in Central Virginia.
In 2007, 400 students chose majors in nursing and education, more than any other majors at Lynchburg College, yielding a combined enrollment of nearly 20 percent of the student body.
Thompson also accommodates nearly 275 of the students enrolled in the regionally prestigious graduate education program, in which emphases are offered in community and school counseling, educational leadership, special education, curriculum and instruction, science education, and reading.
LC alumni educators account for nearly 35 percent of all teachers and more than 60 percent of all school administrators in Central Virginia. The College's nursing program has doubled in size in the last five years to a current enrollment of 184 students.
The addition includes:
- Two additional large classrooms (40-student capacity) alleviating current classroom scheduling problems;
- 5,000 additional square feet of space, bringing the total building to 9,500 square feet;
- State-of-the-art technology, especially important in the nursing and education fields;
- Improved opportunities for faculty/student interaction and advising as faculty in scattered temporary offices come together in ten new faculty offices in one facility.
The original Thompson Education Building, constructed in 1984, was named in honor of education innovator and longtime Lynchburg College professor Dr. M. Weldon Thompson.
As a signatory of the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and a member of the ACUPCC's Leadership Circle (http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/html/about.php
Upgrades included:
- Installation of low-energy lighting systems equipped with motion-detection-based auto shut-off controls in offices and classrooms;
- Redesign of the building's surrounding area to decrease drainage, address storm water runoff and absorption, and restore green space through appropriate landscaping;
- Removal of east side parking spaces to offset permeable surface loss due to new construction, as well as the addition of an outdoor plaza and garden for campus beautification and additional meeting and study space.