Time for another post! Actually, past time, but between school being out and me being very busy, it just slips my mind sometimes. I actually haven’t been at the school in probably a month, which is something I never thought I would say. My wife, however, is in the middle of curriculum inventory and ordering. We have to get orders in before the end of June to get some great discounts.
Work is continuing, although very slowly, on the north field. We want to install baseball diamond(s) there, and we do use it for overflow parking. But it is heavier soil, and with all the rain we have had this spring, every time they think they can get in, it rains again. Things are looking up, I think, since we are entering summer and the forecast is for a bit less rain.
Speaking of rain, they are redoing the ditch that ran along the north field, making the ground level there and putting in a tile.
We hope to find time before school starts to get the playground put in, but we need to figure out where it will go. With the landscaping work and moving dirt around, that will probably happen very late. By the way, in one of my last posts, I mistakenly made mention that some of the students would not get to use it. For some reason, I thought we had a couple graduating this year. I guess you can tell which part of the school experience I focus on!
There is also a lot going on inside. They are putting foam panels around the gym to help with the sound. They don’t even have the carpet on yet and you can already tell a difference. It might also come in handy when students crash into the wall, which has already happened, and resulted in our first ambulance appearance. He is recovering and doing much better.
Walking through the school a couple days ago, it seems so empty. Teachers have taken down all the decorations and study materials they had up on the walls, personal items are gone, and the desks are empty. All the high school desks that they had personalized so well have been dismantled as well. Not even any student work hanging in the halls!
Work has also been going full steam ahead in the south hallway, specially in the resource room. So far, the one restroom that connects this room to the next has been pretty much cleaned out. Not sure we will have time to get it totally restored before fall, but if you are going to put students in a classroom that has an attached restroom, it may as well be functioning, but we will see. The ceiling in the resource room has all been removed, the blackboard is down, the cabinets and old heating unit along the window wall are gone, and the cupboards removed. I vote for leaving that bright green wall and the painted trees up, but not sure what will happen yet.
Someone even found time to move things around in the rooms we are using for storage. The way the building looks right now, we will need to have a number of work days this summer to get everything squared away before school starts. If anyone wants to help out in a financial way, we still need funds to finish the rest of the roof. That is very high on the list of needs, because we are concerned about our remodeling work in the south hall being damaged by the leaks.
Another thing that is high on the list of needs is workers to get things done. If you have time, usually on a Saturday, contact Ken Miller to find out when the next work day is going to be. But if you are handy and want to, or prefer to, work by yourself, we would be very glad to put you to work! Again, just contact Ken or any board member to find out what needs to be done.
Although it seems like summer is just starting, school will be starting before we know it. Can you believe it, we will be starting our second year!? If you know anyone who is considering sending their children to our school for the first time, they should make contact with us as soon as possible so we can be sure to have study materials for them. Some of the printing companies make a certain amount of courses, and if you try to order them just before school starts, not only are they more expensive, but sometimes not even available.
As always, if you want to help with a financial donation to help with curriculum costs, finishing the new roof, or any of our construction projects, you can go on our website, www.uccs.school, there is a Donate button there, or you can contact us for more information. If you would like to make a totally anonymous donation, there is a button on our website to go through the Anabaptist Financial group. You can direct them to send your donation to us, and your identity remains private. Thanks in advance for your support!