PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE During a campus tour on Tuesday night, Taylor Creek Elementary computer lab facilitator Erika Ramos demonstrates a dry-erase board that also functions as a computer screen. School has changed significantly since Fred Dillard attended the two-room, red brick building on Farm-to-Market Road 2313 that used to serve six grades of Kempner students.

Looking over Taylor Creek Elementary's rows of new computers and a dry-erase board with electronic features, Dillard, like many guests at the new campus' dedication Tuesday night, was awed.

James Briggs, president of the Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees, captured the mood of the parents, Lampasas County residents and school staff who packed Taylor Creek Elementary's cafeteria for the dedication, calling the event "a special night."

"Nights like these in the school district don't come around that often," Briggs said.

After Kempner Cub Scout Pack 90 led the pledges of allegiance to the United States and Texas flags, LISD Superintendent Randy Hoyer continued the ceremony by thanking those involved in building Taylor Creek Elementary and in passing a $48.85 million bond package to fund LISD construction.

"It didn't just happen overnight," Hoyer said of the construction of the 65,000-squarefoot campus on Big Divide Road east of Kempner.

Hoyer thanked past and current LISD trustees who were involved in either the 2007 bond election or the construction, along with members of the Blue Ribbon Task Force that recommended new campus construction and the political action committee, led by J.W. Hutcherson, that piloted the effort to approve bond issuance.

The superintendent also praised the architects, bond counsel, financial adviser and construction companies involved in the LISD campus projects. Baird/Williams Construction of Temple built Taylor Creek Elementary and the new Lampasas High School campus, and Guyco Inc. renovated the old high school facilities, which last month opened to grades six, seven and eight as Lampasas Middle School.

LISD Business Manager Shane Jones and LISD Maintenance Director J.D. Butts also received recognition from Hoyer.

"Shane and J.D. have just put in countless hours above and beyond what is required to make sure we're where we need to be," the superintendent said.

Briggs also lauded Jones for his efforts, saying "nobody could've done the job Shane did."

Calling the LISD a "property poor" district, the school board president thanked local taxpayers for sacrificing to fund campus construction.

Hoyer then introduced Taylor Creek Principal Kelly Dunn, who Hoyer joked is so impressed with the new campus that the principal has promised an "exemplary" rating by the end of this school year.

Dunn welcomed guests to "our home away from home," and offered particular thanks for Kempner-area residents, who the principal said have done everything from contributing floral arrangements for the school to volunteering in classrooms.

"Thank you for trusting us with your most valuable possession," Dunn added, speaking to parents. "We'll continue to help them advance socially and academically."

Stan Martin, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Lampasas, then thanked Kempner resident Col. Walter Prugh for organizing the effort to build a school for Kempnerarea students. Martin blessed the new campus, praying for God to "illuminate the flame of knowledge and lead [students] into all truth."

"Please protect your children from the evils of this world, and let us equip them to serve," Martin added. "May it be a safe place for them to learn and grow into the leaders of tomorrow."

After the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, Taylor Creek staff led visitors on brief tours of the campus.

As special education teacher Catherine Prescher guided Dillard and his wife, Denise, through a computer room in the fourth- and fifth-grade wing, Ms. Prescher looked to the west, where streaks of purple and pink splashed across the horizon.

"The view from here is amazing," she said. "I'm so blessed to get to work here."