New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff work together to Make a Difference in their community

  • By Jennifer Kneuss
  • May 1, 2011
  • 328
New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff work together to Make a Difference in their community
New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff work together to Make a Difference in their community
New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff work together to Make a Difference in their community
New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff work together to Make a Difference in their community
New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff work together to Make a Difference in their community
                        
Summary: A sunny April morning provided the perfect backdrop for New Philadelphia Schools’ students, parents, and staff members to make a difference in their community. Parents, children, and New Philadelphia Schools’ staff members came together for their own ‘Make a Difference Day’ on the final day of April. The Saturday morning event, organized by Central Elementary principal John Zucal, had 136 people from the district respond with a willingness to help. “The project actually was a thought that Superintendent Alsept had talked to me about. He was really interested in having a visibility in the community, and working together with the schools and the parent teacher organizations to all come together and try to do different activities at the schools and in the community that align us together, allow us to get to know one another a little better in the district,” explained Zucal. “Most importantly, this was also to connect with the citizens of New Philadelphia and surrounding areas in a way that makes a positive impact on the community. It was really a brainstorm between our superintendent, the administration, the board of education, and myself to come together with an activity that would help to do all that.” The inaugural year for New Phila Schools’ Make a Difference Day was 2010, but severe weather significantly hampered those efforts. “Last year, we could only do a little because of the stormy weather, but this year, we had a beautiful morning and a lot of volunteers out in the community working very, very hard,” commented Zucal. Zucal led a group of about a dozen people working to spring clean the New Philadelphia square, while another 60 plus volunteers gathered at Schoenbrunn Village and around 40 people worked on the grounds of the middle and high school buildings. “We had people at the high school, putting in 40 yards of mulch in the beds there from 8:30 to 11:00,” said John Carruthers, who serves as the district maintenance supervisor. “We had some people do all the weeding, then another group came along and filled in the mulch, while a third group raked it and smoothed it out. We had kids and adults helping. It worked out really well. It saved the district a lot of money, as this annual project is normally outsourced at a cost of about $3,000. We only had to buy the mulch and gloves. The mulch cost us about 800 dollars, and the gloves for all the projects about 90 dollars, and we will use them again. The volunteers saved several thousand dollars for the district. It went well, and I am really happy that these people took such pride in doing this.” After the three groups finished their respective projects, they gathered back at a pavilion in Tuscora Park for a celebratory picnic of hot dogs, coleslaw, chips, and cookies, served by food service coordinator Cindy Jones. “I really liked helping out today,” said district fifth grader Laurel Harstine as she munched on a bag of chips. Laurel, along with her mother, Michelle, had volunteered at the Schoenbrunn site. “There were some kids helping from my class, and also a lot of kids from different schools, too. This is a way I can help make a difference.” JeanMarie Roth and her West School fifth grader Rachel were also part of the volunteer day. Following the picnic, Rachel joined students from different schools in one of the park play areas as her mother took the time to talk with other parents from around the district. “We like to help out in our school and in our community,” noted Roth. Zucal deemed the Make a Difference Day as a success, saying, “This is just another way to let the people of New Philadelphia know that we care about our community.”


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