As they sat around the table, six students from the L&N STEM Academy and two teachers, spent a few minutes sharing what they love about their school with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.
"Here we are developing the traditions. We're not trying to follow another class's footsteps," said sophomore Ben Croisdale. "We're actually laying down the path that every other group of students that come through this school is going to follow."
On Friday, Haslam toured the L&N STEM Academy, Knox County's 15th high school. The school is the first of its kind in the district to have a larger focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
It was Haslam's first visit since the school opened at the beginning of this school year.
Located in the former L&N Railroad station on World's Fair Park, the school uses cutting-edge technology with each student having his or her own iPad2.
"The building is such a wonderful place to learn. It's historical and right in the center of Knoxville," Haslam said after touring the building.
"What we need as a state, we have to be producing more people who are trained and ready in the STEM fields. And, so I look at this as part of our economic development strategy and not just our education strategy."
Haslam and his father, Jim, were also on hand Friday for the official unveiling of the naming of Haslam Commons, a common space used by students to study, eat lunch and congregate.
During the ceremony Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre pointed to the "significant professional and personal contributions made by several members of the Haslam family" to the school.
The governor said he and his family were pleased to make the investment because they thought the school is important and the building a piece of Knoxville's history.
"I think it's cool that students are learning the future in such a historical setting," he said.
Haslam said he likes the school's emphasis on encouraging and treating students as professionals, and officials can take what is being taught at STEM academies and spread it across the state.
"You really are preparing for a future role in life no matter what you do. So beginning to think and act like a professional now, I think that can have as a big an impact as anything," he said.
"You admire their courage for raising their hand and coming to a brand new school. The county and the state have a big investment here, and we want to take that knowledge and help these students, but also they use that knowledge to spread."
Becky Ashe, the school's principal, said it was an honor to have the governor visit the school and having the state's "chief financial officer" at the school validates the work they are doing.
"He believed in our vision from the beginning. We've taken the charge that he put to Tennesseeans about moving into the next decades and setting Tennessee as a STEM workforce state," she said.
"We took his words as a dare, and we're tying to make it come true."
