Part of Catholic Schools Week in the 2010-2011 school year was "celebrating our connection with the community". Catholic schools add value to their communities, providing high-quality education grounded in strong moral values. And Catholic schools rely on their communities for the support and resources that enhance their success. 2010-2011 St. Mary's School students showed their commitment to community service by helping with the Let's Build a Playground Leonard Park Expansion Project. As part of the project, personalized fence pickets will be installed as part of the addition. The students were asked to donate money to be used to purchase pickets that will be personalized with "St. Mary's School 2011". Principal Karen Lee said, “I visited with the students about the value the park adds to our community. Many of the students wanted to share their stories of the fun they have had at the park! I challenged the students to not just "ask mom and dad for money to bring for the park", but to earn the money or take it from their personal allowance or savings. So I hope they come home asking for ways they can earn some money to donate to help build the park!”
Mrs. Lee’s challenge to earn the money was taken to heart by the kids! 5th grader Guadalupe Salinas donated $7 by taking care of her younger brothers, doing the laundry and cleaning her room. Megan Ploeger (4th) said she gave $5 to the fund by cleaning the dog poop outside! Laura (4th) was very busy cleaning the garage, taking out the trash, emptying the dishwasher, raking the leaves, and making beds! 1st graders Ryan Wolf, Natalie G, Natalie Putnam, worked hard to feed the animals, help with dinner, and clean their rooms. Joan Dill (8th grade), Charlie Neelley (1st), Vincent Simmons (K) Rachel Eddington (1st) Dillon Eddington (4th) and Harrison Dempsey (1st grade) each donated money from their allowance, snack money or piggy bank savings.
A "playground container" was placed in the gym each morning for students to put their donations in. In less than a week, the students worked hard to earn money and they proudly brought in a collective $285! The student council donated another $15 and the school will now have 6 “St Mary’s School – 2011” pickets displayed throughout the park playground expansion. The donation is just a small part of the project, but “it’s helpful like God wants us to be,” says Libby Duncan (2nd).
Patrick McCage, Director of Parks and Recreation commented on the history of our park playground. “In 1999, The Community Parks of Gainesville built the first Community Playground in Leonard Park. In one week over 2,000 volunteers managed to take bare ground and create the playground local school children helped design. It is one of the most celebrated active playgrounds in Cooke County. When you ask members of the community at random “what is one of the most memorable events in Gainesville”, the answer will most often be “building the community playground”. The spirit and positive feeling that come from the “old fashioned barn raising” efforts for our community is one that is very hard to replicate.” This community park consists of 30.05 acres for the park, pool, train, ball fields, and zoo. It represents family and community and holds many of memories for our families.
The St Mary’s students were anxious to help and so excited about this expansion project. It was important to them to help preserve and improve our park and playground. The kids were eager to tell why they loved going to the playground. For Victoria Crowsey (4th), a special memory was that her Granny took her and her cousin there on the last day of school for a picnic. Many of the 4th graders added that one of their special memories was when they went as third graders for a day in the park as we celebrated Mrs. Knight’s retirement as a SMS teacher. Other students gave accounts of spending hours in the park on the swings, monkey bars, tie swing and watching the squirrels. If they weren’t on the playground, they were riding the train or visiting the zoo with family and friends or there on fieldtrips. Some incurred a few injuries from playing too hard or being just a little too brave on the equipment. Others spoke about making new friends, and countless student birthdays have been celebrated at the park.
The expansion of the park took place over 5 days. SMS dad and project Co-Chair, Jim Goldsworthy commented, “The playground build was awesome! Over 1500 volunteers helped over the 5 day build. It was great to see so many people from our parish and school take part in the playground build. St Mary’s had numerous construction captains there all week and we had a great turn out from our youth group. Many of the young people came back to help build after their initial shift. It was really great to see our parishioners and students have such a positive impact on such a great community event.”
More than donating money to purchase fence pickets, students helped out on site by sweeping, raking and spreading mulch, painting and any task they were given. Parents helped with cutting boards, securing equipment and working the power tools! Suzanne Schmitz (8th) and her mom sealed the pickets that the people had purchased with names to be engraved on. Her mom said, “It was a messy job or maybe it was just us! We were there 4 hours on day 2 working away with our heads down slapping on the sealer and when we were done it was amazing to see how far along they had gotten on the playground! Suzanne was too young to work on the first playground so I was glad she got the opportunity to help on this one. It was a lot of fun and glad we did it.”
Expansion was completed on Saturday, March 12th,2011. Just in time to kick off spring break! The last day of work was fast and furious. Volunteers were in abundance and it all wrapped up late in the afternoon. Nearly 200 volunteers were treated to a fish fry provided by the Gainesville Knights of Columbus Council 1167 and the break for dinner was a time for many to reflect on the week. SMS dad Andrew Ploeger was a construction captain and was on site all week. The Ploeger family came to St Mary’s from the DFW area a couple of years ago. Andrew commented that the week was “something you just don’t see in big towns.”
With full bellies and pride beaming, everyone gathered at the entrance to the playground. Scores of children impatiently waited for the thank you’s to be said and the ribbon to be cut for the go-ahead to try out the new slides and swings! “You people in Gainesville, Texas are awesome,” Goldsworthy announced to the crowd. After a few more words of recognition, the ribbon was finally cut and the kids flooded in. It was an amazing site to see! The big smiles on their faces and the enthusiasm in their attitude - it was pure and innocent joy.
The common feeling of our students at St Mary’s is that service in our community is something we do to help each other when the need arises...we help to make our town a better place to live and play. The playground will be a safe place for kids and families, say the students. “Service in our community is important because we need to work together and earn each other’s trust” says Tyler Goldsworthy (5th). Aaron Colmenero (8th) thinks “service in our community is important because we try to live like Jesus would.” Shane Hartman (8th) stated that “it is people coming together to make something amazing” and Landrie Herr (2nd) adds that service is important “because anything can be done!” Josiah Jones (5th) said that he hoped “commitment to the project will make the community a more extraordinarily better place where kids can come together to play, and if they do not know about the Lord, our love will reflect on them to feel God’s love.”
What better place than a community playground to witness God’s work in progress?
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