the big day

If you regularly read my blog, you may have read this little tale:
http://ohfercute.blogspot.com/2008/11/once-upon-time.html

And here is the happily ever after part:

A few weeks ago, this is what the room looked like at Cleveland Middle School:
And here is what it looked like, yesterday morning, before the big ribbon cutting ceremony:

 

Here is the relieved builder, as he is escorted to the Simulation Lab. Every student in the school turned out (with big smiles, cheers, and applause) and lined the hallways from the classroom where the morning started, all the way down the stairs to the room full of wonder.

 

Here are some of the students, excited about their new equipment:

 

3M was a big contributor to the project, with a grant that provided three of the simulators. Here is one of the 3M execs, trying out a simulator:

 

Here is Jill Wahl, the educator with the dream: And this is the principal, Dr. Vincent, who shared the dream, and worked to make it a reality.
Here are students who were selected to demonstrate how they work (canopies up so everyone could see inside, normally they will fly with the canopies down). But after all of the fanfare, they got down to what this is really all about, the learning.