May 19th was a big day for the students of Ocotillo Ridge Elementary School. Numerous corporate, nonprofit, and personal donations came together in front of an excited crowd of 640 students. The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) set out to meet the goal of $16,500, in order to build a new track for the school. The PTA knew that the goal was a lofty one and set out to get donations from the community.
Currently, the track is nothing more than a dirt/gravel path around the perimeter of their playground. However, the track is heavily used by two different school youth running groups.
One by one, donors came forward and presented their checks: Parent Teacher Association $1,800, Walmart $1,500, Target $1,500, Vail Education Foundation $5,500, Northwest Emergency Medical Center $1,000, AllState $1,000, Girl Scout Troop 25 $300, Beach Fleischman & Co $100, Anonymous $3,000.
The whole school screamed with excitement as they reached their goal. Immediately after the ceremony, the school kids went outside to run two final laps on their old dirt track. The traditional ground breaking ceremony was held marking development of the new track. What originally set out as a lofty PTA goal turned into a huge community effort!
Construction is set to begin in June, and the new track will be ready before the 2016-17 school year.
