The Chenango Forks School District is putting down an 18.2 million dollar investment on an expansion of a program that is one of a kind in the Southern Tier.

"We have a STEAM program that we teach throughout the school," says Superintendent Lloyd Peck.

STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Chenango Forks is the first district in the area to offer this well rounded education to its students.

"It's no longer just about math, it's about all of those disciplines," says Kenneth Gay, the Senior Architect with Keystone Associates.

Keystone Associates is the firm tasked with completing the project, which was 82.3% covered by state funding. The STEAM program partners with local businesses to provide students with internship and classroom learning experiences.

"There are opportunities here to come back and really walk the students through our design process in an area that we designed for them," says Gay.

The project presented some design challenges, since there is limited space around the existing building to expand. Keystone has solved this problem by adding another floor to the school building.

"We're limited in the amount of space that we have around us and we're able to go up at a reasonable design for it," says Paul Bedford Partner with Keystone Associates.

The demolition will officially be underway on Thursday and the project is expected to be completed in two years.