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Volunteers put in Pine Lake Prep playground in one day
Photo courtesy of Pine Lake Prep
Don Miller (center), the 2007 NASCAR Home Depot Humanitarian Award winner, is congratulated by Danny Green, captain for Team Depot of Home Depot, after Miller "cut the board" signaling the completion of the new Playspace at Pine Lake Prep Wednesday afternoon.
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Published: October 10, 2008
Afternoon raindrops didn't stop the nearly 200 volunteers from shoveling mulch, tightening bolts and putting the finishing touches on Pine Lake Prep's new playground – a school and community play space donated earlier this year by one of Mooresville's own.
PLP's "Build Day" – held Wednesday in partnership with Home Depot's "Team Depot" and the non-profit organization KaBOOM! – kicked off at 9 a.m. and brought together parents, students, school officials, KaBOOM! representatives, members of NASCAR teams and other volunteers to construct the blue, yellow and green playground; a long-awaited addition to the charter school's new campus.
"I think it's going to be awesome," said third grader Deirdre Taylor who caught a brief glimpse of the playground's construction Wednesday morning.
"I've played at other (playgrounds). This one looks much better."
Eagerly anticipating Monday, when students can officially utilize the space, Deirdre said the first thing she's probably going to do is "run around and just say 'wow'" while fellow third grader Matthew Jolly said he'll run directly for the climbing rope.
"I like spiders so I like to act like them," Matthew said, adding he likes "climbing especially upside down."
Many parents also expressed their excitement over the new play space as they volunteered their efforts on Build Day, which carried a party-like atmosphere complete with music, dancing, food, wacky hats and smiling faces.
"This is a fabulous opportunity for the school to get a playground," said Dana Mazzone of Mooresville whose four children are among the 1,300-plus students who attend the public charter school on N.C. 115 in Mt. Mourne.
"I think it's amazing. I can't believe how fast this has come together."
KaBOOM! – "a national non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America," according to its Web site – awarded the playground to the 2007 NASCAR Home Depot Humanitarian Award recipient Don Miller last year who chose Mooresville, and more specifically Pine Lake, as its destination.
After months of development, including a student-oriented design day in August, the grandiose project came to fruition Wednesday – preparations began at the onset of the week – with the help of school and parent volunteers as well as individuals from Team Depot, Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing, KaBOOM! and members of the community.
"The parents have been incredible," said Danny Green, district captain for Team Depot, who brought approximately 80 volunteers from the Charlotte region to Build Day. "This is my ninth KaBOOM! (project) and this is the best organized group I've worked with."
Equipped with slides and climbing walls, rope ladders and monkey bars, the chosen design – one of three voted on by officials and parents – was based on drawings created in August by dozens of students who sat down with markers and protractors in hand to help draft the perfect playground, said Natalie Proffit, KaBOOM!'s associate project manager for the PLP build.
"We talked about (the kids' designs) with the adults and made a list of 'wants' and 'don't wants' from the drawings," said Proffit on Wednesday.
Utilizing a NASCAR theme - several artistic race images adorn the structure – and the chosen colors, the Pine Lake Preparatory community took the project one step further to create a large, welcoming space for students and community members near the campus' Lower School.
By noon, halfway into the construction project, the playground had begun to take shape. The primary structure was nearly complete as volunteers mixed cement and began landscaping the surrounding area.
Several parent volunteers painted wooden silhouettes of students – more than 350 PLP kids struck a pose within the last week and were traced to create the unique images, complete with plaques designating each child – that would create the "Celebration Circle" leading to the playground.
Even Miller, for whom the playground honors, became part of the architectural fencing with his own lifelike cutout created by a PLP art teacher.
And despite the rains that fell for the latter part of Build Day, parent volunteer Kristin Klatt said this event was something she simply did not want to miss.
"The community coming together like this … it's phenomenal," she said only hours before the scheduled 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially signify the project's completion.
She added, "We've been to many schools and this is unprecedented."
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