The Putnam County School Board approved naming Cookeville High School’s newly built Independence House in honor of teacher Randy Mansell.
Mansell said the house will open later this month. At Thursday’s meeting, Director of Schools Corby King said Mansell will retire at the end of the year and thanked Mansell for his contributions and years of service.
“This has been an amazing project and you have worked with our special needs community for years at Cookeville High School since you’ve been there, building floats and all the things,” King said.
The house, designed to prepare students with special needs to live on their own post-graduation, was student-built under structured supervision, according to Mansell.
“Ben Hernandez, the electrical student, was our electrical supervisor, so… he was kind of in charge of that project and it was really good experience for him,” Mansell said.
