Discovery Park

Ethan’s elementary school doesn’t have much of a playground. Why? You ask. Well, let me explain. The school is a billion years old (okay, maybe about 30). And in our county, the schools are paid for with county funds (our taxes!), but the playgrounds are not! Seems the county believes that the constituents are paying for education, not for “fun,” which I guess is okay. Apparently PTOs and PTAs have to build the playgrounds. This goes for the tracks too.

Doesn’t seem like football fields, baseball fields or soccer fields are excluded…hmmm… but I digress.

So, Ethan’s school (Sully, by the way) used to have a rinky-dink playground. Well, the PTO decided to build a track (which the kids LOVE) and so the rinky-dink playground had to come down. There are a few chin-up bars left and a raggedy tot-lot. Not much to play on. I think there’s a tetherball pole or two.

Our PTO has decided that we need to build a playground and finally things are underway! Since we have to raise the money anyway, it was decided that we should build a science park. It’s really cool. You can see the design and whatnot here: http://www.sullypto.com/.

Of course, since this isn’t just a regular playground, it’s gonna cost a little bit more...something to the tune of about $135,000! But did I mention it’s cool?!

It was designed by Leathers & Associates from NY. http://www.leathersassociates.com/ They incorporated a replica Jamestown Fort/Williamsburg capital (something in the VA SOL tests). They’ve also made the whole park wheel-chair accessible! The LCSA (http://www.lcsa.org/) is providing a water wall too and there are many more educational aspects.

The park will be open to the community (or anyone who wants to drive to it) after school hours and on weekends.

So, you are now soooo interested that you want to know how you can help, right?! Great! WE NEED YOU’RE HELP! Of course, donations are greatly appreciated (and they are tax deductible too), but the playground must be built entirely by volunteers! The build dates are Oct 18-22, from 7am to 9pm daily. We need skilled and unskilled help! If there’s anything you can do, please contact the Sully PTO: peter@sullypto.com or Valerie@sullypto.com. We would love to have you working with us!