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Sacramento third graders pave the way for others
DARLENE VINSON
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
Every day, students at Sacramento Elementary School, 11400 N.E. Sacramento St, pour out the back door on their way to the east playground. During much of the school year, the ground is wet and muddy.
Teachers Linda Timmel and Gail Welch and their third grade students, decided to find a remedy. After brainstorming ideas, it was decided a path would provide a drier, safer route for students on their way to recess. They applied for and received a grant from the Rose Festival Kids Helping the Community Foundation.
| Sacramento Pathfinders work hard to serve their school |
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| Sacramento Elementary third grader Kimberly Moua (back, center) struggles with a box of weeds and grass she pulled as part of the prep work for a new pathway to the playground. Classmates (from left) David Visekruna, Kayla Ramnarace, Miles Lomax, Colin Phelps, and Maranda Alf-Huynh rake and pick out rocks and debris while Rose Festival Kids Helping the Community Foundation volunteer Patty Ragan (far left) and a Royal Rosarian look on. |
| Photo: Steve Blakely, Principal, Sacramento Elementary School |
First introduced by the Portland Rose Festival Association in 1996, the foundation of this unique program is to teach students the importance of giving back to their neighborhoods. School representatives are responsible for choosing, organizing and implementing their community service projects.
Dubbed Sacramento Pathfinders, the project took shape as students and teachers delineated an eight-foot wide, 130-foot long path. One full afternoon was consumed clearing the area. Removing grass, weeds, debris and rocks took a couple more days and the assistance of other classes. Parents loaned tools, Home Depot loaned a rototiller and one student’s favorite uncle provided the manpower behind the tiller.
On Monday afternoon, April 12, volunteers from the Rose Festival and a Royal Rosarian dropped in to see how the work had progressed. Students and teachers were presented with certificates and pins in recognition of their hard work and creativity. “We were thrilled,” said Timmel. “It is special to be acknowledged by the Rose Festival Association.”
The next step in path construction involved volunteers from Rockwood Parr Lumber who installed an all-weather border. A mill in Forest Grove donated the bark chips that will cover the path. The Parr Lumber folks delivered the chips to the school. Next, the eager crew must rake out the path area, remove more rocks, roll it, and lay and staple landscape fabric. When that is done, Parr Lumber volunteers will return to help spread the chips.
With the path in place, these industrious students can practice their marching techniques on the way out to the play ground as they have been invited to march in the Junior Rose Parade on Wednesday, June 9.
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