The Oregon-Davis School Corporation and PTA officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new playground equipment at the Elementary School Wednesday.
Several families were on hand with their kids to see the new playground equipment for the first time. Superintendent Bill Bennett along with the school board, administrators and PTA officials officially cut the ribbon to signify the opening of their massive project.
Superintendent Bennett said, “All the help we had from the community, our PTA, PTO was awesome. Stephanie Ferch, Emily Cartier, Lee Nagai, Tiffany Nagai all of them were a huge help. I’m excited for the kids to have a safe and fun place to play.”
Following the ceremony, children were able to play on the new equipment for the first time.
A portion of the fundraising effort for the playground project stemmed from Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) in a crowdfunding campaign to transform and update the playgrounds at the Oregon-Davis Elementary School.
The school was able to obtain $50,000 in donations toward the grant match. Kankakee Valley REMC Operation Round Up also presented a $10,000 grant to the Oregon-Davis School PTA toward the project.
PTA Co-Vice President Stephanie Ferch was part of the committee that helped pick out what the corporation wanted. She stated the first phase was to remove old equipment and have six new basketball goals and three full size courts put in place. She added the elementary school went the entire school year last year without equipment to play on outside. She said this year she is very excited to see the kids’ reactions when they return to school next week.
The corporation-wide open house is set for Wednesday, August 9 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. CT. Teachers will be able to meet with students and parents, and students will be able to walk to each class and become familiar with the location of lockers.
The first day of school for Oregon-Davis students is Thursday, August 10.
