Weekly Update #4

Hi KaBOOMER!s!

We are quickly approaching our big days – next Thursday, June 24th and Friday, June 25th are our Playground Prep Days and Saturday, June 26th is Playground Build Day! It is hard to believe that exactly seven weeks ago to this date, we held our Design Day, and one week from today is the eve of Prep Day One. Our committee work and community networking has paid off well.


· In-kind donations of food to feed all volunteers on Prep Days and Build Day have been solicited and confirmed

· Our list of necessary tools is complete

· Our site prep is complete

· Build Day t-shirts are being printed

· We have secured DJ services for Build Day



So much has been done by so many to get us to this point. Thank You!

We still need more volunteers to register to participate on Build Day. If you are planning to be here and you have not registered, please do so now! Go to
http://woodfieldkaboomproject.blogspot.com look at the top right corner of the page and find on-line volunteer form, click here. Once you submit your on-line registration form you will be added to our spreadsheet of committed volunteers. If you have already registered, please pick up the phone and call a friend or family member and try to help us solicit more helpers. Thank you!

We are looking forward to a great day of work and fun in service to our important mission – empowering children with learning differences to reach their full potential. We are so fortunate to be part of something so wonderful.

Let’s build a playground,

Becky Sessions, Head of School
Woodfield Academy
4375 Rivoli Drive
Macon, GA 31210
478-477-9844 phone
478-477-9866 fax

Weekly Update #3

Greetings KaBOOM!ers –

We are now just three and a half weeks away from our Build Day, June 26th! Our planning process is on course with all committees working toward their goals. Last week, we met a huge milestone with the payment of our financial contribution to KaBOOM! Our fundraising has been successful in general, but in particular, we have been touched by the generous gifts from individuals associated with Woodfield, or with certain students. It is quite amazing to be on the receiving end on behalf of the school and to experience the support and love this project is generating. Thank You ever so much!

This week, our focus is on registering volunteers for our big day and making sure we have our human resources committed and prepared. If you are not already registered, please take a few minutes and go ahead and sign up; you can do so right here on our blog site. Also, please take a few more minutes and contact your friends, relatives and co-workers and extend a personal invitation to be a part of this great community event. Thank You!

Are there any professional or semi-professional DJ’s out there willing to provide services on Build Day? We are in need of music, sound equipment for announcements, etc. and an all around fun atmosphere for the big event. Please contact Becky at Woodfield with suggestions and/or offers. Thank You!

Our construction committee has the large and important task of gathering a list of tools. They are doing a great job, but still need several of each of the following:
· Spade shovels
· Rock/metal rakes
· Wheel barrows
· Manual post hole diggers
· Digging bars
· 8 lb. and 4 lb. sledge hammers
· Cement or garden hoes
Please contact the school office if you have any of these tools and are willing to lend them to us for the project. We will be very organized with labeling and returning anything you can help us with. Thank You!

So far in this process of designing and planning for the building of this wonderful outdoor play space, we have made new friendships and strengthened many partnerships. It is a pleasure to be involved in such a positive endeavor – Get Yourself Signed Up and Registered. This is going to be so much fun!!!

Let’s build a playground,

Becky


Becky Sessions, Head of School

Woodfield Academy
4375 Rivoli Drive
Macon, GA 31210

478-477-9844 phone
478-477-9866 fax

Weekly Update #2

Hello KaBOOM!ers,

We are now in week 3 of our KaBOOM! Playground Project planning process; committee work is progressing behind the scenes and we had another great conference with Ariel last Wednesday. Many wonderful folks are working hard to make this wonderful community event a super success; here are some highlights to bring all of you up to date.

• Our $7,500 cash contribution fund is building. We have received $2,000 from individuals; approximately $1,000 from our Art/Pizza PTSA event and $1,284 from our Jump Rope-A-Thon, for a total of approximately $4,300! We are awaiting word from a Rotary Community Grant request and another $400 gift request from a WRAFB Contract Company. We are selling Krispy Kreme doughnut coupons for $6 each or two for $10 with proceeds to go to this fund, but you may also elect to purchase coupons and donate them to our food committee. Our due date for payment of our contribution is the 26th of May, so please call the school office at (478)477-9844 if you would like to help! Thank you!



• Our Food Committee is actively seeking in-kind donations for Prep Day and Build Day breakfasts and lunches for our volunteers. So far, we have confirmed pizzas, coffee, tea and water, breakfast baked goods, and chips. We have requested more pizza, sub sandwiches, breakfast items, and gift cards. Please brainstorm any ideas and do not hesitate to use your contacts to help us with this part of our event.

• The necessary site clearing/rading and the digging of all of the holes necessary to cement in the supporting poles for the equipment has been donated!



• The soil testing for lead and arsenic has been donated!



• The Construction Committee has been working on identifying the necessary tools needed for the prep and build (see the tool list on the blog). We can use your assistance if you are a tool person.



• Our Youth Involvement Committee is very busy. This week they are creating personalized thank you cards for Beverly Blake, Knight Foundation Program Manager and Beverly Olsen, Knight Foundation Trustee, and creating their very own personalized stepping stones that will be placed on Build Day as a pathway to the playground. All of this on the last week of school!



• Our Registration and Recruitment Committee needs your help! It is time to begin signing up to work on Prep Days and Build Day. We are keeping a count of committed workers in the school office, to maintain an organized, central location for this information. To sign up to work, please fill out this online volunteer form.
  You may also come by the office to pick up a form. You may get as many as you want, each form is for one worker or one family of workers. Feel free to call the office at (478)477-9844, if you would like us to fax it to you.

I hope you have a great week - tune in to our blog often. This should be a big week for KaBOOM! updates.

Let's Build A Playground,

Becky Sessions, Head of School
Woodfield Academy
4375 Rivoli Drive
Macon, GA 31210
(478)477-9844
(478)477-9866

Weekly Update #1

Hi KaBOOM!ers –

Yesterday afternoon at the completion of our weekly planning conference call, we received the grade of F for Fantastic! by Ariel, KaBOOM! Project Manager, for the amount of tasks/activities we have completed and the brainstorming we have done in the first week of our KaBOOM! Playground Project planning process. Leaders of the committees are emerging and on yesterday’s call, we had representatives from all committees giving their updates.

You can still get involved if you have not already; we have committee work available and we need firm commitments from all of you who are interested in participating in the work on the Prep Days, June 24th/25th and on our Build Day, June 26th.

We are working toward our fundraising goal of $7,500 so if you know of any funds or grants available for community projects, please get in touch. No donation amount is too small and we certainly invite you to partner with us through a monetary or in-kind donation. Thank you so much.

So far our Kid KaBOOM!ers have planned and scheduled a jump rope a- thon, a doughnut sale and a car wash! And for those of you in the immediate Woodfield Family, please know the proceeds from the PTSA Pizza Dinner and Art Show will be designated toward this financial goal. Please come and support your student’s talent and the effort they have made to excel in their art studies all year. The pieces are amazing; you simply will not believe your eyes.

Give us a call or shoot us an email if you would like to get in on the fun –

Let’s build a playground,


Becky Sessions, Head of School

Woodfield Academy
4375 Rivoli Drive
Macon, GA 31210

478-477-9844 phone
478-477-9866 fax

Student's Dream Playground

Here is a short video of one of our students describing his dream playground for Woodfield Academy.

Welcome

Greetings and welcome to our Woodfield KaBOOM! Project blog. Here you will find updates regarding our playground project and you will be able to track the progress of the planning process as we count down to Build Day, June 26th, 2010. Thank you to all who participated in our wonderful Design Day, last Wednesday; we now have our dream playground mapped out and volunteers assigned to committees. If you did not attend, no worries! We still have plenty of volunteer opportunities for both our planning committees and for Build Day. Do not hesitate to contact us at the school by phone, 478-477-9844, or by email at bsessions@woodfieldacademy.org to get involved. It is by the generosity of the Knight Foundation, KaBOOM!’s local funding partner, that Macon will have the opportunity to come together for this great collaboration. We are expecting great things to come from this experience and could not be more grateful. Thank you Knight Foundation and KaBOOM! – Let’s Build A Playground!

Becky Sessions, Head of School

Woodfield Academy
4375 Rivoli Drive
Macon, GA 31210

478-477-9844 phone
478-477-9866 fax