Gateway and B.E.S.T. Partner Sixth District Elementary Pitch Pennies for Playground

When teachers at Covingtons Sixth District Elementary School were asked, If you could wish for one thing that would make your school a happier place? at a recent B.E.S.T. Partnership meeting, the overwhelming response was a playground renovation and more specifically, a new swing set.

Teachers expressed how sad it is that at recess the children have to wait in line for a turn on one of the playgrounds four swings, while teachers time the children swinging so everyone gets a turn before the bell rings.

What to do? Launch a penny war, of course! The battle to raise money for a new swing set began as a competition between all grades at Sixth District with kindergarten and second-grade classrooms acting as sponsors in a service learning project.

Heather Abbott, B.E.S.T. Partner chairperson for Gateway Community & Technical College, quickly expanded the theater of operation to Gateway. She organized an inter-campus penny war among the colleges three campuses -- Boone, Covington and Edgewood -- and its Urban Center in downtown Covington. With a goal of $2,500, Gateway faculty and staff raised nearly $1,000 in the first four hours of battle. Several Gateway employees and their family members also volunteered to help install the swing set this summer and assist with more playground renovation efforts.

The Penny War campaign will run through April 30 for Sixth District and until May 15 for Gateway. All proceeds will go towards the purchase of a new six-to-eight-seat swing set for the Maryland Millennium Playground at Sixth District, as well as supplies and landscaping.

All Gateway, Sixth District and community volunteers will be invited to participate in playground renovation, and a victory celebration grand re-opening of the park will occur at the beginning of the 2012-12 academic year. For more information about Gateway and Sixth Districts B.E.S.T. Partnership, or if you would like to support the Penny War, please contact Heather Abbott at heather.abbott@kctcs.edu or (859) 815-7634.