Marquette has been under construction since the summer of 2009. Additions include new orchestra rooms, history and math hallways, a new staircase and a new room on the second floor known as the “flex room.”

This giant space is puzzling to many students.

“I don’t even know what it’s for,” Sy Jacobsmeyer, freshman, said. “It’s an MHS Mystery.”

The room was added last year by funding from the bond issue.

The other three high schools in the district have flex rooms. With the addition of the flex room comes the prospect of a flex schedule.

Flex classes allow students to take courses similar to those in a college setting. Students have the classes two or three times a week in the large lecture hall.

Lafayette has been using this system for 20 years. The other two schools have recently added flex classes into their curriculum.

“Flex courses prepare students more for college,” Principal Greg Mathison said. “They also allow for more scheduling options.”

In a year or two, Marquette will be adding flex classes into its schedule, but now the room is being used for presentations and meetings.

Teachers, along with clubs and organizations, are able to reserve the room for their students through Principal Paul Burns. Many classes and clubs have already taken advantage of the room.

“I have taken my World History classes in the room,” Alex Nelle, social studies teacher, said. “[The world history teachers] were able to teach a lesson to three world history classes at one time.”

The Flex room is large enough to hold around 80 students, or three classes.

“[The flex room] is a very useful space, and it’s practical,” Nelle said. “It helps teachers collaborate with other teachers, essentially making life easier for the students.”

Sport teams have also been using the room.

“The basketball parent meeting was held there,” Ashley Elliott, senior, said. “It was perfect to have a space large enough for everyone to meet.”

Cross country has also used the room.

“I went there for cross country,” Katryna Huth, senior, said. “Basically it’s a giant auditorium that’s really big and clean. It reminds me of a college room.”

The room is an available resource for all MHS students.

“It sounds interesting and I will have to check it out,” Alex Hendricks, freshman, said.