By Tim Ryan, Shawano Leader Reporter

The decibel level of their enthusiasm shook the earth enough to make the groundbreaking equipment almost unnecessary. But then, if it hadn’t been there, the lucky ones wouldn’t have been able to ride in it.

Hundreds of Shawano School District elementary students donning plastic, yellow construction helmets attended two gala ceremonies Wednesday combining Earth Day observances with groundbreakings for a new primary school and renovation of Olga Brener Elementary.

“It truly is a great day for the Shawano community,” said Superintendent Todd Carlson at the ceremony for the new primary building.

“I look at all the young faces — you’re the first students who will go this school — and your children will probably go to this school and your children’s children,” he said.

Carlson acknowledged the many people present who had a role in bringing the new school to fruition. “The dream has come true,” he said. “This is all being done because of you,” Lincoln Elementary School Principal Troy Edwards told hundreds of students who had gathered in a field at Waukechon and Engel streets to witness and take part in the second groundbreaking.

Lincoln school, built more than 80 years ago, will be discontinued when the new primary facility opens for the 2010-11 school year.

“Gone are the days of teaching in closets, overcrowded classrooms and not enough classrooms,” Edwards said.

Earlier the in the day, Olga Brener Elementary Principal Karen Smith addressed an even larger crowd of students — estimated at close to 500 — who had gathered outside the school to see ground broken for the school’s renovations.

District voters approved the total $24.9 million building project in September, including the construction of a new $20.5 million primary school to handle Early Childhood through second grade.

Olga Brener Elementary School will be remodeled as part of the building project at a cost of $4.4 million into an intermediate school to handle third grade through the fifth grade, which is currently housed at the middle school.

Smith said voters heard the district’s needs and responded. “The community listened,” Smith said. “The real winners are the students who will be attending this school.”

Students also heard from a visitor who came all the way from Washington, D.C. to share the celebration. “Earth Day is extra important today because of your groundbreaking,” said Donnie Kenneth, school sector manager for the United States Green Building Council.

The new school is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the council, which provides standards for environmentally sustainable construction. It is, in fact, the first primary school in the country to seek such certification.

“You’re part of a dynamic revolution,” Kenneth told the students.