The James H Bean PTO has been doing intensive fundraising for the last two years with the goal of giving the JHB playground a much-needed update. This month they saw their hard work come to fruition with the new installation they call, “Red, White, Blue, and Awesome.”
The new swirly slide and balance pods have already been a big hit with the students who visited the playground for this week’s orientations.
The PTO has hosted many wonderful and popular events during their fundraising push, including Grandparents Day Breakfasts, Breakfast with Santa, and fall and spring carnivals for the JHB community. The funds they raised were supplemented with grants to help with shipping costs and wood chips for surfacing the playground.
“I would like to thank my PTO team,” said president Vanessa Doyon, “we have put in endless hours of preparation for events. Our PTO has turned into a second family for the board because we have spent so much time together in the last few years. I’d also like to thank our principal, she has been nothing shy of amazing with her support and advocating for our needs as a PTO; she is outstanding.”
Doyon added a special thanks to Andy at the Korner Store in Oakland, Mo Ba’s Kettle Corn, Mike Doyon for extensive grounds work, and the JHB parents and surrounding RSU communities for their support. “We, as the PTO, could not do this without every minute of manpower and every cent donated,” said Doyon.
The PTO isn’t done yet and they aren’t letting COVID slow down their efforts to raise about $1200 to replace two more slides on the other side of the playground. This week they are taking lemons and literally making lemonade with their donation based lemonade stand which will be at all the Popsicles on the Playground events all week long. They also still plan to hold their Longfellow Poinsettia sale, and will no doubt found other amazing and creative ways to reach their goal. If you are interested in making a donation, you can email jhbpto@gmail.com for more details.
RSU 18 Messenger 