Latest / Bearcat Chat - A Podcast about all things Scottsbluff Schools / Elementary Modernization; More than just Paint and Carpet

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Elementary Modernization; More than just Paint and Carpet · Bearcat Chat - A Podcast about all things Scottsbluff Schools

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Bearcat chat, a podcast for everything
• 0:04
  Scottsbluff School. Hi everyone and welcome to the
• 0:13
  bear. Catch a supposed podcast about
• 0:15
  everything Scottsboro schools. I'm your host Melissa price and
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  I have a couple of special guests with me for today's
• 0:21
  episode. So joining me today is Jeremy,
• 0:24
  Binky, principal Lincoln Heights Elementary, how are you today,
• 0:26
  mr. Hankey, I'm doing great.
• 0:28
  Thank you. Also with us today.
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  Is dr. Andrew dig superintendent of
• 0:32
  schools. I'm doing great as well.
• 0:34
  Thank you for having me today. And Alyssa.
• 0:36
  You join me back in the fall for my first ever episode.
• 0:39
  So, excited to be back. Now, we're wrapping up.
• 0:41
  Up the school year, I certainly am.
• 0:43
  You know, this is an exciting time for students and families
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  and most notably students as they look ahead to a summer of
• 0:51
  doing whatever they enjoy most. Well, that's really kind of what
• 0:54
  we have to talk about today is something that has to do with
• 0:57
  summer. So the reason that I have, but
• 1:00
  with a view here is because we're embarking on another phase
• 1:02
  of our elementary modernization project with.
• 1:05
  We're kicking off at Lincoln Heights this summer.
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  It's right for listeners. Who may not be familiar?
• 1:10
  Can you explain? With the elementary
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  modernization project is. Yeah.
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  So the elementary modernization project is now going into its
• 1:18
  third summer and this plan was developed in a way to provide
• 1:23
  necessary updates and modernizations to our five
• 1:28
  elementary buildings. The really five goals for the
• 1:32
  Elementary modernization first is to ensure that we are
• 1:36
  providing a safe and secure learning environment for
• 1:39
  students families and staff. Want to create a welcoming
• 1:42
  environments for our students, parents and community members to
• 1:45
  visit our school. We want to ensure that our
• 1:47
  classrooms are designed for flexibility and future
• 1:49
  instructional needs. And we want to ensure that we're
• 1:52
  integrating the latest and greatest technology for our
• 1:56
  staff to use in their instruction, and students to
• 1:59
  benefit from as well. And last, and certainly not
• 2:01
  least, we want to ensure that we're providing a efficient
• 2:04
  Pleasant working environment for staff.
• 2:07
  That's right. And I think it's also worth
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  noting that this project meets the goals of our sr3 use of
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  funds plan which are specific goal as it relates to, this
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  project is to strategically utilize funds for long-term
• 2:20
  sustainable project. Yeah, you know, with that with
• 2:23
  credit to our Board of Education and District leadership for the
• 2:28
  Strategic surviv, fiscal manner in which they've managed, our
• 2:33
  district funds were able to do this project.
• 2:37
  Without having to Levy, a bond and increase, proper potentially
• 2:41
  increase property taxes to our taxpayers.
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  We're able to utilize funds within our district reserves
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  while also coupling that with Sr funds to significantly improve
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  the learning environment for students and staff at each of
• 2:56
  our elementary buildings. Yeah.
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  I think it's been really exciting for the community to
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  kind of watch this project. Grow we started at Roosevelt
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  Elementary and then we moved on too long.
• 3:06
  I'll be kind of working our way, east to west across Scottsbluff
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  and our next one is, of course. Lincoln Heights were the Third
• 3:14
  Elementary School that we're tackling as part of the project
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  and Lincoln Heights, people may not know, is the oldest school
• 3:21
  building that we have in the district?
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  So this your pinky is there anything else about Lincoln
• 3:25
  Heights, you think makes it kind of unique, you know, not only
• 3:28
  just as it relates to this project, but the school in
• 3:31
  general, that people might like to know about, you know, it's
• 3:34
  been awesome to be able to see Lincoln Heights.
• 3:37
  To grow over the years. From what I understand is it's
• 3:42
  been built on twice to since 1920 and then most recently in
• 3:46
  2008 or 2009 we had it an update to our office area.
• 3:51
  We added an elevator and we also did some Renovations in a
• 3:54
  library space and an additional kindergarten classroom.
• 3:58
  And so over the years we have been fortunate enough to be able
• 4:03
  to add those spaces and we're really looking forward to This
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  summer with the modernization that's going to be happening
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  here in a short week or so with the with every with everyone
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  coming in. Yeah, the modernization is
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  getting people from right away soon as the school year ends, in
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  fact, Lincoln Heights students are getting probably what every
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  student has maybe ever wished. For at one point in time, which
• 4:27
  is an extra day of summer vacation in order to allow
• 4:30
  teachers time to organize back up their classrooms and you
• 4:34
  know, in an efficient and effective manner.
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  What what work is going to take place at Lincoln High stop.
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  Yeah, that's that's a great question.
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  There's a lot of things happening right now.
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  Teachers are packing up boxes and we're getting ready to take
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  those boxes and put them in the gym for the modernization
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  project that to take off and have the classrooms free and
• 4:54
  available for. We're going to have all of our
• 4:58
  hallways carpeted and painted. And our stairwells will be tiled
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  and it's going to be an awesome process as we're going through.
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  We're fortunate enough to be able to have every classroom
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  being carpeted as well. And so we're looking forward to
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  a brand new bit, not a brand new building but an updated
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  modernized building with carpet and paint and everything that
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  comes along with it. So we're really looking forward
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  to New Furniture in our building as well.
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  We're going to be getting new desks and shelves and cabinets.
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  And our maintenance team is, is looking forward to putting some
• 5:34
  additional storage in our classrooms party.
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  There's they're really looking forward to that.
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  And so our maintenance crew has has been awesome working with us
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  to this point and done a great job of working with me to help
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  work with teachers to see what we really needed to benefit.
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  Not only our staff of our students as we move forward with
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  this modernization as well. Yeah, I think one of the things
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  that I like spot to seeing the most with this project, as I
• 6:02
  went through the other elementaries and watch the
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  progression was Seeing the, the storage option come in.
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  I think what people didn't know is that you guys are getting a
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  locker replace, right? We are getting a locker
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  replacement. Yeah.
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  That is maybe one of those fun things is the our maintenance
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  team, replaced. All of those old lockers that
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  were inefficient space and sometimes pitch fingers and you
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  know, made this really nice kind of modular storage that they
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  completely fabricated on their own and we I think the district
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  saves a lot of money. Me being able to do it that way.
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  So that's a big Testament to our our maintenance team, in the
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  kind of high quality work that they're able to do.
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  Yes, it is, they've been great. So talk about Technologies.
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  Also another piece on part of the modernization project.
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  It has been at our other two elementaries and will be at
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  Lincoln Heights. Tell me a little bit about how
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  technology will change and look at night.
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  Yeah, technology will definitely change its I'm hopeful that it's
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  a wonderful addition to our building from the standpoint of
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  being able to learn new technology.
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  And then once teachers have learned new technology being
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  able to use the technology to enhance the educational process
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  for our students. There's going to be a learning
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  curve, just like there is with anything for the teachers and we
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  have great trainings already set set up to help teachers be Well,
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  that, but it's, it's a brand-new color touchscreen for every
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  single building or for, excuse me, for every single classroom.
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  And I don't know a lot about them yet, so I get to learn
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  right along with the teachers as we go through this process.
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  I know that our teachers are anxiously awaiting, what?
• 7:54
  That's going to look like and feel like for them.
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  But I know that we have a staff who really wants to put their
• 8:00
  best foot forward to make sure that they're helping students
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  either. Icelanders that they can be too.
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  And so I really think this technology will allow us to do
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  some things. We haven't been able to do and
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  be able to utilize it in a way that we haven't been able to
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  utilize in the past. And so we're really looking
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  forward to see seeing what this can do for not only our
• 8:22
  teachers, but our students as well much of what you described
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  is similar to the work that has been done at Roosevelt and
• 8:29
  Longfellow Elementary these past few years.
• 8:31
  So is there anything that's really going to differ as As far
• 8:35
  as Lincoln Heights. You know, when we first started
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  this conversation back in August, we learned very quickly
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  that Lincoln Heights is unique from the standpoint that our
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  rooms just are not all cookie-cutter rooms.
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  And so we had to be very thoughtful about the furniture
• 8:53
  that we are putting in our classrooms.
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  We had be very thoughtful about making sure we had enough space,
• 9:00
  so the teacher and students could be fitted in an
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  environment that was conducive to the student learning and the
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  teaching from the board Teachers as well.
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  We're going to have the opportunity to put in a couple
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  different and couple new additional rooms with our
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  existing rooms in place of will be able to have a new flex room
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  will have hopefully be able to utilize another sensory room for
• 9:28
  students and staff to use as well.
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  And then our para educators of always had to just find a place
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  to rest what I mean by that is finding a place to put their
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  keys, their purses, their stuff for the day.
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  And so we plan on having a section for our para Educators
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  as well to be able to come to work, put their things in a
• 9:49
  specific place and be able to go and do their job throughout the
• 9:53
  day. And so, I felt like we've been
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  very thoughtful about how we can continue to serve all staff, and
• 9:59
  students at Lincoln Heights Elementary, we get to redo the
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  entryway. The secure vestibule Lincoln
• 10:08
  Heights, Elementary. And so looking forward to what
• 10:10
  that looks like. We're set up really well for it
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  as it is right now. And and we've been working with
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  the maintenance team on that to make sure that we're voting.
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  All revising crossing our t's for the for that as well, but I
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  look forward to the opportunity that we have to walk into a new
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  building in August and really serve students and families in a
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  really meaningful way. Well, it sounds like you have
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  along with other individuals in the district and probably your
• 10:41
  teachers and your entire staff and really thoughtful about how
• 10:45
  to take a building that maybe wasn't designed for the modern
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  education that our students receive right now, and really
• 10:51
  kind of retrofit it to be able to best meet the needs of
• 10:54
  students staff. So, it sounds like you're
• 10:57
  planning is really going to pay off.
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  How about the paws program will be be doing with has programs
• 11:04
  facilities? See the stuff?
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  Yeah, we'll be doing the same thing to the pause building.
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  As we are to the school building, with the exception of
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  desks. We already have desks that fit
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  that program really well, but we're going to be painting and
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  putting carpet in the paws program, as well, along with
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  some additional furniture for meetings, and for Teacher, desks
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  and storage and, and the paws program as well.
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  And in addition to this modernization piece, that is
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  happening inside the building, there's also going to be some
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  changes taking place outside of the building.
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  What can you tell us about your playground?
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  Really excited about our playground.
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  It's exciting. Any time we have an opportunity
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  to provide a new play environment for students.
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  We at Lincoln Heights Elementary, we really emphasized
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  the importance of recess and I feel like this new playground is
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  going to give us an opportunity. To really help students engage
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  in play. And so we've been very
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  thoughtful about what the playground is going to look
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  like. We're keeping some of our
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  existing playground equipment because it really fits the needs
• 12:16
  of our playground area and a lot of our kids still play with it.
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  And so, or play on an excuse me, we're adding a climbing wall as
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  part of our new playground which is awesome and we have some new
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  slides and we have a little sensory area.
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  You as well for all students to be able to take part in.
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  We're also replacing two of our basketball hoops on the
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  playground. We've learned over the years
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  that it's really difficult for a kindergarten first.
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  Second grader to launch a basketball up to a 10 foot hoop.
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  And so we have two different basket.
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  We have, we're replacing two of our four basketball hoop.
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  So maybe we can engage some of our kindergarten first and
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  second grade students in shooting on a height
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  appropriate, basketball hoop on Earth.
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  And as well, we're fortunate also to have AstroTurf on our
• 13:06
  playground currently and so we're able to keep that but work
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  around the rest of our playground to add our new
• 13:12
  playground equipment that's currently there as well.
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  Yeah, I think one of the things that has been really exciting to
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  watch, as we've seen these playgrounds go up throughout our
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  district, is that? No two schools are the same note
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  to campus. Is that the school sit on is the
• 13:30
  same and it We really found a way to be able to tailor each
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  and one each and every one of those playgrounds to the
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  individuals who will and to the students and the families that
• 13:41
  they serve. And I think that's really been a
• 13:44
  good fit for us after d. Do you want to talk a little bit
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  about the playground project in terms of how we've been able to
• 13:50
  fund it and how we've been able to offer this for all of our
• 13:54
  elementary schools? Yeah, so while we're updating
• 13:57
  the inside of our elementary buildings, we wanted to ensure
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  that our playgrounds We're receiving a similar type of
• 14:04
  data, is a playground equipment at each of our schools was aging
• 14:08
  and needed to be modernized as well.
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  And so, we entered into a partnership with our foundation
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  to raise the funds, for the elementary playgrounds and so
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  much. Thanks to the foundation for
• 14:22
  raising funds for that. They just completed an
• 14:26
  elementary fun run, which also generated some additional funds,
• 14:29
  but they were also able to accomplish that through some
• 14:31
  very generous. Us, corporate and individual
• 14:34
  sponsorships as well. The district contributed
• 14:37
  approximately 50 percent of those funds as well.
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  Again we were able to use our healthy cash reserves there.
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  I'd also like to take a moment and really extend my
• 14:48
  appreciation. Thanks to our facilities team
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  and our it team who are completing a significant amount
• 14:55
  of the work at each of our elementary modernization
• 14:59
  projects in house and because of their skill.
• 15:02
  I'm their talent. They are able to accomplish that
• 15:05
  work during summer when students are not in session and save a
• 15:10
  considerable amount of money by being able to do that work and
• 15:12
  house. Yeah, I think when you look at
• 15:15
  this project, you think, wow, you know, all these things are
• 15:18
  taking place and wait, we're able to do this without a bond
• 15:22
  and I think that's really important for our community to
• 15:25
  know and I Echo your sentiment. You know, I can't say thank you
• 15:29
  enough to the staff members that are going to juggle.
• 15:32
  All this project along with all of the regular maintenance and
• 15:36
  it and although that would work that they have to take on to
• 15:40
  prepare every single one of our buildings for the new school
• 15:43
  year. You know, sometimes those of us
• 15:45
  that work, 12 months, we say that we get a lot of the real
• 15:47
  work done in the summer. And sometimes that's just
• 15:50
  because we need to be able to have access to the school
• 15:53
  buildings and the school campuses in a time when they're
• 15:56
  not actively being used by students.
• 15:57
  So to put this size of a project on top of our team, Teams with
• 16:03
  everything that we normally do. It's really they really done an
• 16:06
  outstanding job. I'm just riffing.
• 16:09
  Hey do you have any thoughts about maybe what the staff is
• 16:12
  going to be most excited about when they get the opportunity to
• 16:16
  come back in August and see the building?
• 16:19
  Yeah you know we've continued to plan for this throughout the
• 16:22
  year and as we as I've tried to communicate effectively on what
• 16:26
  it's going to look like and what it's going to feel like when we
• 16:28
  come back, I think there's definitely some excitement to
• 16:33
  coming into a classroom and seeing it in the spring and then
• 16:36
  coming back in the fall and it's a A totally different classroom,
• 16:39
  totally different setup, new furniture, new technology, new
• 16:42
  paint, new carpet. So, with all of that said, I
• 16:45
  think there's a lot of excitement surrounding it and
• 16:48
  I'm excited for the teachers to come in and be able to show that
• 16:52
  enthusiasm for our building and maybe rejuvenate some, you know,
• 16:58
  just give a little bit of Rejuvenation and excitement when
• 17:01
  the teachers were excited about what's going on in our
• 17:04
  classrooms that the students in return are excited.
• 17:06
  And so, Our teachers are really looking forward to an updated
• 17:11
  building. Its as you mentioned earlier,
• 17:13
  it's one of our oldest buildings and we've also been very just
• 17:17
  purposeful and how we're doing that and the teachers have been
• 17:20
  along for the ride. And so the reason I mention that
• 17:23
  is because we tried to I've tried to communicate with the
• 17:27
  teachers during this process of what it's going to look like and
• 17:30
  answer questions along the way and because we've been able to
• 17:33
  do that, I think in generates a little bit of oh this is what
• 17:36
  it's going to look like this. What?
• 17:37
  It's going to To feel like this is what we can expect.
• 17:39
  And so they're really looking forward to it.
• 17:42
  Obviously there's a lot of unknown because we don't know
• 17:44
  exactly what it's going to look like.
• 17:46
  But we're looking forward to what it's going to look like in
• 17:50
  the in the fall. Okay.
• 17:52
  It will be have certainly covered a lot.
• 17:55
  I hope that our listeners out there.
• 17:58
  Can agree with us that the modernization has been kind of
• 18:01
  really transformational for the learning environment and all of
• 18:05
  our elementary schools. And I think we all look forward.
• 18:08
  Bird to continuing to move through this process of.
• 18:12
  There's also some work being completed in a few other
• 18:16
  elementary schools this summer doctor.
• 18:18
  Do you want to speak to that a little bit?
• 18:20
  Yeah at Roosevelt and Longfellow Elementary will be completing
• 18:25
  work in the restrooms which really I see a kind of the last
• 18:30
  phase of that. Elementary modernization
• 18:32
  project. For those two buildings, the
• 18:34
  scope of work, it's occurs throughout this Elementary.
• 18:38
  Ation really does extend beyond One Summer and so we were able
• 18:43
  to build those projects out and hire a local contractor that
• 18:47
  will complete the work at Longfellow on Roosevelt
• 18:51
  restrooms and really provide some much-needed updates to what
• 18:55
  I would consider the last phase of the modernization at those
• 18:58
  two schools. And I think it's worth noting
• 19:01
  Lincoln Heights. The restrooms were one of the
• 19:05
  upgrades that actually took place in your building when it
• 19:08
  was worked on in 2009. So you're kind of Lucky that's a
• 19:11
  piece that you don't have to tackle.
• 19:13
  We do not we do not yeah and you've also had some
• 19:16
  refurbishment done in your gym as well as we have over the
• 19:19
  years. You kind of did that gradually
• 19:23
  an as-needed basis. So that's part of the reason why
• 19:26
  you're able to maybe do some different things then The other
• 19:30
  schools have up to this point. I think I have any last question
• 19:33
  for you. Sure of conversation and that is
• 19:36
  what will students and families be able to see the new
• 19:39
  modernized again, right? Our first day of school is
• 19:42
  August 17. And so, we're looking forward to
• 19:47
  welcoming students and families in for an open house at the
• 19:51
  beginning of the school year. And we're really looking forward
• 19:55
  to welcoming wealthy welcoming. Excuse me, our families back at
• 20:00
  that time, and the open house will be a great opportunity for
• 20:04
  our families and community members to come in and see the
• 20:08
  new and improved Lincoln Heights, Elementary.
• 20:10
  In the starting in the fall on August 17.
• 20:15
  Well, there you have it. We are wrapping up our school
• 20:19
  year right now. We hope that everyone out.
• 20:22
  There has a really great summer and we look forward to welcoming
• 20:26
  everyone back on August 17. Thank you both very much for
• 20:32
  coming and talking with me about this project today.
• 20:35
  You bet, thank you. Thank you Melissa for having us
• 20:37
  and I would like to Echo your comments, it down.
• 20:40
  We wish all Our students and families are very safe and
• 20:42
  enjoyable summer.