As the student body grows, the campus needs to grow with it. The school intends to expand its campus through the new Capital Campaign. The Capital Campaign is a fundraising event to raise money for expansions to our school. The school does not have an unlimited budget, and needs the community’s funding to go through with these plans. 

The campaign has two phases to it. The first phase, according to the Horizon Honors website, is to add 16 2-story, state-of-the-art classrooms, including upgraded science, art, and computer science classrooms. Additionally, the first phase will also add a weight room. These upgrades will replace the west wing of the school. There are many reasons for this expansion listed on Horizon Honors’s website, the first being there will no longer be a need to walk through a second classroom to get to the bathroom or office. In the redesign, you will not have to interrupt anyone’s class when exiting. The classrooms would also be larger; therefore, teachers could come up with more engaging criteria or better classroom organization for their curriculum. It also means that more students on the waitlist can be accepted into the school, because we will have more space in classrooms. 

The second phase will include a new gym and auditorium, which will be added in place of the Middle School Courtyard. A second gym means that more students can partake in sports. The sports teams will then always have an air-conditioned indoor place to practice during the summer heat. The accompanying up-to-date auditorium will provide theatre, band and choir kids with a space to do what they love. 

All of this is estimated to cost nearly $6 million. Of course, in order to make this happen for the Horizon Honors community,  we need to do what we can to support this financially. There are several events planned that will provide fundraising for these projects. On January 14, there was a fundraiser at Chipotle that donated 33 percent of proceeds to the Capital Campaign. This brought in $1,700.  A “VIP and Me” Dance is coming up on February 8 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This is a dance any student can attend with a special adult such as an aunt, uncle, parent, guardian, or grandparent. There will be dancing, a DJ, games, and a photo booth in the MPR. It is $20 for adults and $10 for students, and, like the Chipotle fundraiser, all proceeds go to the Capital Campaign. At Pecos Park, there will be a 5k Fun Run on February 23 at 2:00 p.m., which The Horizon Sun has previously provided details for. According to Joanne Bartsch, a Community Building Committee member, there will also be more restaurant nights coming up, where Horizon Honors families can show up at their favorite restaurants and support their school as they treat themselves.    

The fundraisers are one way to earn money for the Campaign, but there are also various ways to donate directly. This can result in earning naming opportunities and sponsorships. For example, you can pay $100,000 to get naming rights to a classroom. There are also advertising opportunities. To learn more about this, go here. 

The Capital Campaign is a long-term project to benefit our school. However, it cannot be completed without your help. In order to help the current and future students of Horizon Honors, anything helps, whether it be spending $30 to go to the VIP and Me dance, or $100,000 to get the naming opportunity to a classroom. If you are able, please do what you can to help the school.