Anne Kooiker / Winonan

Winona State University is moving forward with its Education Village project, which will integrate students into the community and its surrounding schools by creating new labs and classrooms.

Winona State claims about 20 percent of its student population as education students.

The massive expansion project has been broken up into phases. For phase one, needs, resources, design and architecture needed to be laid out.

According to the university, Education Village received $5.9 million for design and basic construction between 2013 and 2014.

Winona State also said the project is entering phase two, where it is focusing on renovation of 82,696 square feet between Cathedral Elementary School, Wabasha Recreation Center and Wabasha Hall. They will renovate old vacant buildings to use for Education Village.

Logistics aside, College of Education Dean Tarrell Portman said she remains devoted to the project’s goal.

“My whole life is Education Village. I call Education Village the ‘Jewel of the Midwest’,” Portman said.

At the moment, the Education Village project has not been fully funded. There is a legislative vote in March that will determine if the project receives government money.

“The phase two money is what the governor just put in, and I’m very pleased he is supportive of education and in the state to do that,” Portman said.

The support is an added bonus for the university since Portman said she believes Education Village will positively add to the learning environment for everyone.

“This space will be 100 percent for learning of all ages,” Portman said. “There will be the opportunity for collaborate spaces for community members to come in to sit. Groups, learning clubs, different clubs of retired teachers or retired citizens who want to meet in this space, there will be spaces available.”

Portman emphasized how Education Village will focus on the new learning and teaching opportunities for students entering the education program.

“It is also a place for early childhood teachers and other teachers to actually work with children. There’s clinicals there because one of the big things we want is teachers to be working with children very early in their academic experience,” Portman said. “We want to have this early on, for we know they want to work with children, so the children center actually allows for that to happen.”

She also believes students, parents, children and employees will appreciate the value and benefits of Education Village when added to the community.

“The richness we have in Winona between Saint Mary’s, Winona State, Cotter and the public schools seems focused upon learning. When you add Education Village to that, it tells a new parent or employee that this community embraces education and my children will learn from that.” Portman said.

In addition to the classroom components, Portman said there will be a museum to honor past educational accomplishments and contributors who built the foundation for education.

“We want to honor the history by having an education museum in cathedral to where we can pool in some of the historical stuff. Winona was the first home for the National Education Association, we have many firsts in education so in the museum we will have artifacts from that,” Portman said.

The museum will also include a collection of teachers’ legacy stories, according to Portman.

For Portman, just working on the project is a personal achievement for her. She said she is fortunate to be a part of the project and is pleased to be able to contribute to Education Village.

“This is a project that we get the privilege to focus on,” Portman said. “That’s rare, and I’m humbled and honored to be a part of it.”