Magnolia Heights School honored one of its own while celebrating the grand opening of a new cafeteria for students and staff.
The school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 10, to unveil Skye Westmoreland Dining Commons to honor Skye Westmoreland, food services director at MHS from 1995 through 2015.
“When I started in 1995, I was only supposed to be here for two weeks. Twenty years later, I was still here because someone else had a different path for me,” said Westmoreland, who moved to Virginia Beach after her retirement. “I am glad they did. The community and the family on this hill are incredible. This school and its people will always hold a special place in my heart.”
The opening of Skye Westmoreland Dining Commons is part of Magnolia Heights School’s capital campaign “Our Tradition, Our Future”, which also included an expansion of Baker Hall North to add six classrooms for fifth and six grades, additional restrooms and STEM/science lab.
The original goal of the capital campaign when it launched in 2019 was to raise $1.23 million for campus improvements and upgrades. Dr. Marvin Lishman, Head of School Emeritus at Magnolia Heights who recently retired after 41 years, announced that amount has expanded to just over $2.5 million in his remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Skye was so much more than our lunchroom lady. She was family,” Lishman said. “She didn’t have family, so she adopted us to be her family. One of the greatest compliments you can give someone is ‘you made a difference in our world’. Skye, you made a difference in our world.”
Jerry Slocum, co-chairman of the capital campaign, echoed Lishman’s sentiments regarding Westmoreland.
“It’s very, very fitting this state-of-the-art dining hall is dedicated to Skye Westmoreland for her many years of service at Magnolia Heights,” Slocum said. “Years ago, this place was just a hill. Now, it’s ‘The Hill’ because so much has been invested to make it the school it is today.”
