Hands shot up when Education Minister Peter Fassbender posed the question: what do you do if an earthquake hits?

Get under a table, said the Grade 2 and 3 kids at Sangster elementary, and protect your head.

Earthquake drills are routine at schools in Greater Victoria, and when the big one hits, students at Sangster now have an added level of protection. What was once a four-classroom annex constructed of cinderblock and built in the 1960s has received a $2.1 million seismic upgrade.

B次元官网网址淎 lot of people have worked really hard at making the school safe for each and every one of you, and now the building is safer to protect each and every one of you,B次元官网网址� Fassbender told a class during a media event on Thursday.

Classes of Sangster students have spent the past year camped in the library and computer room, and a Grade 6 class walked to a portable at nearby Dunsmuir middle school, as the bones of the annex were reenforced with steel and modern building materials.

Principal Maureen Lauren said students and teachers took the inconvenience in stride.

B次元官网网址淭he teachers and kids were phenomenal. Nobody complained, not even the children who had to walk back and forth (to Dunsmuir),B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淓veryone has been so gracious and positive through construction. Staff and students went without essentials in the school, but weB次元官网网址檙e back now.B次元官网网址�

Lauren herself has inadvertently made a career out of shepherding students through construction and upgrades. Before Sangster, she worked through construction at Happy Valley elementary.

B次元官网网址淚 said, B次元官网网址業f you want a building reconstructed, put me there.B次元官网网址� I was joking,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭his is my fourth.B次元官网网址�

The majority of the one-level Sangster school didnB次元官网网址檛 need seismic reenforcement due to its wood frame.

B次元官网网址淭his is the newest part of the school,B次元官网网址� said SD 62 superintendent Jim Cambridge, standing in the annex. B次元官网网址淭he irony is the school built with 1950s construction with wood is not at (seismic) risk. The newer part needed upgrading. The old part is just fine.

B次元官网网址淭he building is safer, but its also a lot cleaner, more hygienic,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hey replaced the 40- year-old floor and gave it a fresh coat of paint. You can see out the windows now.B次元官网网址�

Fassbender spent part of the morning playing basketball with a class of kids and toured the modern modular classroom installed at Sangster to make space for all-day kindergarten. Despite the recent high-profile court ruling regarding teachersB次元官网网址� collective bargaining rights and revelations that the province provoked teachers into striking in 2012, Fassbender said visits to schools are always cordial.

B次元官网网址淚 respect every teacher at every school,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 never uncomfortable. I love meeting teachers and students. Everyone is respectful and never disrespectful.B次元官网网址�

SangsterB次元官网网址檚 annex building became SD62B次元官网网址檚 No. 1 priority to upgrade once the province announced it would replace the aging Belmont secondary. The district is gearing up for a major seismic retrofit of Dunsmuir middle school, scheduled for 2014-15, in what could be an $8 million project. Ruth King and Willway elementary schools are approved for seismic upgrades, but funding hasnB次元官网网址檛 been allocated.

Cambridge said design work is underway for the Dunsmuir project, which includes planning how to manage a construction zone with classes underway. Spencer middle school went through a $5 million upgrade in 2009 with classes in session.