On Thursday, Feb. 10, the grand opening of the new Watson School of Education building and the North Carolina Teachers Legacy Hall drew approximately 300 guests including administrators and staff, donors, several state legislators and a vast array of people committed to educational excellence.

The new three-story, 80,500 sq. ft. edifice has 10 classrooms, four computer labs, three seminar rooms, and a number of offices surrounding a sky-lit atrium.

From its aesthetically pleasing design to its abundance of technologically state-of-the-art resources, “this building is intended to make a bold statement about how we feel about education,” said Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo.

The North Carolina Teachers Legacy Hall, which displays historical events and achievements in education, covers the floors and walls of the atrium. From the memorable school bus to a facsimile of a one-room school house, visitors are prompted to take a walk down memory lane.

“[Legacy Hall] is meant to raise the awareness of education and honor the people that serve us on a daily basis,” said Watson School of Education Dean Cathy Barlow.

Unveiled at the grand opening were the portraits of the three former deans of the school of education; Dr. Harold Hulon, Dr. Roy Harkin, and Dr. Robert Tyndall. Also revealed was a bust of Jay Robinson which is housed in the atrium as a tribute to his unwavering commitment to educational excellence.

The grand opening was “a wonderful event to show the rest of North Carolina the advancements that UNCW has made in not only in education, but in all of its scholarly endeavors,” said Ian Cotton, an Education major at UNCW.

Plans for construction of the building began in 1997 as the mounting crisis of a severe teacher shortage plagued the North Carolina education system.

According to a news release by the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, 10,000 teachers must be hired each year for existing positions in NC public schools, while the combined total generated by the 47 public and private universities in North Carolina is only 3,100.

In order to fill the vacancies, public schools are forced to hire many under qualified persons, who have no educational experience.

Currently UNCW ranks third in the number of teachers produced each year. Hopefully the new building will not only attract more to the discipline, but also retain those who have already committed themselves to educating the future citizens of North Carolina.

However, this is only one side of the problem. The vast discrepancy between the supply and demand of teachers is largely due to disturbing retention rates. Almost one-third of new teachers leave the profession after three years, and approximately 40 percent leave after five years.

In a report issued on Feb. 2 by the North Carolina Teacher Retention Task Force, among the reasons for poor retention rates were: unsatisfactory working conditions, lack of diversification of teaching duties, lack of resources and supplies, and lack of access to state-of-the-art technology for instruction.