New East Richland Friends Church Facility to Expand Education and Ministry in St. Clairsville

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- An exciting new day dawned for East Richland Friends Church on Sunday as members broke ground for the planned Ickes Family Life Center.

The 28,000-square foot structure, to be located behind the church and within sight of Murray Energy headquarters just up the hill, will feature a gymnasium, five classrooms that can house 25-30 students each, a nursery, a kitchen and cafeteria, a stage and more. Church leaders and members have envisioned the project for years, but it is becoming a reality with support from Murray Energy Corp.

Robert E. Murray, chairman, president and CEO of one of the nation's biggest coal producers, said the company so far has provided about $500,000 worth of services to help get the project underway. These efforts have included architectural services, mechanical engineering, plumbing design and layout planning, bidding and more, according to Murray Energy architect Dan Carpenter.

Murray, who said he regularly attends church at East Richland and in his hometown of Bethesda, noted that the company also will contribute an addition $750,000 in "seed money" to help ensure the dream of such a facility becomes a reality.

"They have a very good school here that is not regulated by the state," Murray said prior to the groundbreaking ceremony. "The students perform better on tests than public school students do, and there are more who want to come than they have facilities for."

East Richland Christian Schools has an enrollment of about 200 students from elementary through high school. Plans call for high school students to move into the new building, allowing junior high students to move into the current high school to make room for more students in the elementary facility.

School Administrator April Woods and high school Principal Melanie Saksa said East Richland students perform well on standardized tests and that science fair projects are a strength of the program. Students also participate in Math Olympics, College Credit Plus and Speech Meets, but the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math are where the school really stands out.

Woods said the school recently received the Governor's Thomas Edison Award for Excellence in STEM Education and Scientific Research as a result of work performed by senior Sadie Lendon. Students typically begin learning the Scientific Method in fourth grade, Woods said, and start science fair projects in fifth and sixth grades. During seventh and eighth grades, the pupils decide whether to continue on that path of scientific study. Many of those who do will continue to compete at local and even state-level science fair competitions. In Lendon's case, she was able to conduct ongoing research over a few years. Ultimately, she developed a prototype child safety lock that was created using a 3-D printer.

The new Ickes center will allow the school's enrollment to grow, and it will provide additional opportunities for athletics, drama and many other activities, officials said. Its name was bestowed in honor of Wayne Ickes, who served as minister of the church for more than 50 years, and his wife, Barb. They were not able to attend Sunday because they were in New Hampshire, where Wayne was able to preach in front of his grandchildren for the first time. Instead, their son Doug Ickes spoke on behalf of the family. He read a letter composed by His parents that states, in part:

"A vision for this building and what it could provide for our church, school and community was birthed many years ago. … It will be exciting to see all the ways God will use this new addition to further his kingdom." The couple added that they were humbled to receive the honor.

Senior Pastor Gary Wenger stressed that the new center will not just be a building to house students; instead, he said, it will provide a venue to allow the school and church to reach out to the entire Belmont County community.

Just before members of the crowd stuck their spades in the earth, Murray told them why he and his company had decided to assist. He said he hopes the facility will allow the school to admit more students and reduce the number of children on its waiting list. He added that he believes the school provides a special type of faith-based education that cannot be found elsewhere in the local area.

"These are wonderful people with a great vision. I'm just humbled that my family and I are able to help," he concluded.