CORINTH – Almost two years after meeting with architects to offer suggestions on the design of Corinth Elementary School, two busloads of teachers toured the facility Thursday afternoon.

“This is exciting,” said Teresa Timmons, a 29-year veteran second-grade teacher at East Corinth Elementary School. “The most exciting thing is the new technology like the smart boards we’re going to use.”

Timmons’ seniority gives her the chance to choose her classroom on the second-grade wing. Windows were high on her priority list.

“I wanted to be able to look out and have a good view,” she said.

Classes from East and West Corinth elementary schools will merge in the new Corinth Elementary.

“The kindergarten rooms are gigantic, so I’m real excited,” said Linda Gene Jackson, a 15-year first-grade teacher at West Corinth, who switches to teaching kindergarten with the move.

“We’re going to have computer labs, something we haven’t had for years,” Jackson said.

The 128,000-square-foot school has that and more: a media center-library, a cafeteria, a gym and room for expansion.

“This will eliminate overcrowding,” said Principal Denise Webb, who moves from West Corinth Elementary to take over the lead role at Corinth Elementary.

“Right now the auditorium at West is used for so many different things. Here everybody will have their own home, and there’s room to grow.”

For the teachers making the move from East and West, there is a bittersweet note, as well.

Several on the tour wore black T-shirts that were created as keepsakes of the years the two schools served Corinth elementary students – 1954 to 2010.

“When we saw the shirts with the words ‘The Final Chapter,’ we all cried,” Jackson said.

Contact Lena Mitchell at (662) 287-9822 or lena.mitchell@djournal.com.