Students at Lupton Junior High School in Walker County now have a modernized library space built for the way they learn.
A Cawaco RC&D grant funded new workstations, chairs, carpet, and shelving throughout the school’s library, transforming a well-loved but outdated space into a functional hub for learning and collaboration. The library serves students and staff in multiple ways: it’s a place to read and research, a meeting space for faculty, a media center, and the home of the Blue Devil News Network, the school’s student broadcast that delivers morning announcements and character education to every classroom, every day.
While the library has a media center that makes the space home to all the modern needs of today’s students, Principal Corey Shubert says the school has been intentional about maintaining the library as a physical, book-centered space. “We try hard to limit students on their screen time,” Shubert said.
Sen. Matt Woods helped identify this need when Mr. Shubert showed him the library during a tour of the school. “I visited the library at Lupton and it was full of students, this is a highly utilized space and it deserved to be renovated,” said Sen. Woods. While he recognized the space was dated, he saw its potential and worked to establish funding partnerships to transform the space. “The bulk of the funding came from Cawaco, and [I] greatly appreciate your partnership on so many good projects here in Walker County.”
Rep. Greg Barnes echoed that commitment to continued support. “We’re going to help you get all the funding that we can,” Barnes said. “That’s what we do. We work diligently to make that happen, so we’re not slowing down.”
Cawaco RC&D is grateful for the partnership of Sen. Woods and Rep. Barnes. Without the support of the Alabama Legislature, projects like this one simply would not be possible. Their dedication to identifying community needs and connecting them with resources reflects exactly the kind of collaboration that allows Cawaco to fill gaps across Central Alabama.
The Lupton library renovation is a reminder that investing in school infrastructure is investing in students — giving them spaces that say their education matters and that their community shows up for them.
