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Imagine you are sitting in the Devaney Center at the state basketball tournament.  You're watching two teams play.  One of the schools you've never even heard of before.  Every year there is a team that attends a speech meet or is on the state tournament bracket that raises some eyebrows, making people question where they fall on the map.  In most cases, these unfamiliar school names are a result of a school consolidation.  More and more schools are consolidating each year.  Thirteen years ago, Albion and Petersburg, the towns in which I live smack dab in between, decided to follow.
In 2001, the towns of Petersburg and Albion consolidated to become Boone Central.  Ten years later, a one-year contract combined the junior high sports teams of Boone Central and Newman Grove.  This test trial went well, leading to the high school athletic teams of the two schools co-oping in the following 2012 school year.
Boone Central's merge has, for the most part, ended smoothly.  Probably a major cause of this is the fact that the newly merged Cardinals won the state football title in their first season together.
Sports are not the only positive, though.  If you talk to the average student, they might say that their middle school days were miserable.  But if you talk to a Boone Central student, they'll smile and reminisce on racing up the stairs, playing soccer at the field, or riding the bus.  Why do our students get a stress-free middle school experience?  Maybe it's because they're distanced 13 miles away from the high schoolers in Albion.  If the junior high was constantly interacting with the high school, they would feel pressured to be like them.  A junior girl stated, "In the most awkward stage of our lives, we got to be separated.  I didn't want to go to high school, I loved middle school so much."
However, like all mergers, there are some cons.  The students from Petersburg have a longer distance to travel.  Buses don't run to each individual house.  The biggest adjustment of all is that no town wants to lose their school.  Both schools also had to reduce their staff at the time of the merger.  As a result, some teachers were RIFed.
As for Newman Grove, we are only with them for sports.  Most people would say that it's gone well.  But others say there's been some issues.  "There is drama created by both of our schools," says one sophomore.  Many people are indifferent to the matter since our schools aren't consolidated.  One Newman Grove junior replied  "I honestly don't care.  I don't think we'll combine schools any time soon."  Most athletes would agree, though, that they enjoy having Newman Grove with us.
Whatever drama there may be, it won't be noticed by a visitor.  Adults and students alike from Albion, Petersburg, and Newman Grove get along just fine.  "If we wouldn't have consolidated, I wouldn't have a lot of the friends that I have," noted one sophomore.  That is so true.  We've become a family here at Boone Central/Newman Grove.

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