MARYSVILLE – Jamilla Patrick was one of the students at the ground-breaking of the new food commons at Marysville-Pilchuck High School April 29.

A cheerleader, Jamilla said the new facility is a good start to healing the school after the deadly shooting at the old cafeteria in 2014.

Unlike some other students, Jamilla said she doesn’t mind the old cafeteria still being there. After the tragedy, there was an outcry to tear down the old one as soon as possible.

She sees the old one almost like a memorial to the victims. “I like to go there to collect my thoughts,” she said, adding she was friends with some of the victims and was nearby when the shooting happened.

M-P Principal Rob Lowry said students may not be that excited about the start of the new building, but they sure will be when it is completed.

“You don’t realize how much you need a cafeteria until you don’t have one,” he said, adding a lot of school loyalty develops during “high-spirited” lunches.

At the official program, Marysville School District Superintendent Becky Berg called it a “day of new beginnings.” She said the five young people who died that day we will “remember forever.” Looking forward, “We have an amazing school district with a bright future ahead of us.”

School board President Pete Lundberg said it was an honor to follow the wishes of the students and community in building a new facility that will provide decades of community service.

Former state Rep. Hans Dunshee, who is now a Snohomish County councilman, couldn’t make it, but was instrumental in getting the $7.5 million from the state to build the facility. His spokesman, Tyler Verda, read a letter from Dunshee that said in part that he was “honored to be part of the new beginning and to continue the healing process.”

County Councilman Ken Klein said he was impressed with the young people who stood together and gave each other a shoulder to cry on. He encouraged everyone to “honor one another above ourselves.”

Mayor Jon Nehring said the facility is another milestone in the recovery. He said our hearts go out to the victims, their families and those who were in the cafeteria. He said the new eating place will help us “put the other one in our rear-view mirror.”

Don Hatch of the Tulalip Tribes, who grandson, Nate, was the lone survivor of the shooting, said the teen still can’t come to the school 1 1/2 years later. He hopes the new food commons will be positive for the kids and “help our children get by.”

Daryn Bundy, who was on the facility’s design committee, said the community came together after the shooting. “It’s not just a gathering place for students,” Bundy said. “It’s a beacon of hope.”