Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Maple Park turns woods into classrooms
By Ray Weikal
With the help of volunteers and a grant from a builder’s supply warehouse, some dangerous woods near Maple Park Middle School are being steadily
transformed into an outdoor classroom.
Community members, students and staff turned out to help complete the latest phase of the school’s ongoing landscaping project for about four hours on
Saturday morning, Oct. 4, in Kansas City North.
Called “Maple Park Goes Green,” the project has its roots in some long-held concerns by school officials over the thick stand of trees southeast of the school on North Bennington Avenue, according to Assistant
Principal Trisha Guffey.
The small, city-owned
forest was dangerous because it restricted sight lines for school staff and was an easy place to hide, Guffey said.
“The biggest thing is the safety element. It was a heavily wooded area that you couldn’t see through,” Guffey said. “Unfortunately, in today’s society, because of some of the people in the world, we have to think that way.”
With increased safety in mind, and also considering the general need to spruce up the school’s grounds,
counselor Lindsay Kobolt applied for and won a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for
Education grant in the spring.
Using the money from Lowe’s, volunteers were able to begin work on the school’s exterior, including new plantings and landscaping. Getting the “mini
forest” cleared, however, proved to be a job too big for the students, staff and parents, Guffey said.
“We did great on the
landscaping, but we didn’t make a dent on the mini forest,” Guffey said.
Officials with the Kansas City Department of Parks and Recreation gave the school permission to clear out the forest, Guffey said. They were not, however, able to offer any money or
assistance for the work.
Guffey then turned to her brother, Dan Carver, for advice about what to do with the forest. Carver works for Mid States Excavating. He voluntarily surveyed the site, then convinced his employers to spend three days in September clearing it out.
“It would have cost approximately $5,000, which is huge,” Guffey said.
Mid States Excavating was honored for its work at Maple Park Middle School and was named a Partner in
Education by Superintendent Tom Cummings Tuesday, Oct. 7, according to school district Communications Specialist Darlene Minx.
The school also received help from the Maple Park Homeowners Association and the Kansas City Department of Parks and Recreation during the Oct. 4 work day. The schools teachers, Guffey said, are already excited to use the new outdoor
classroom.
“Being out in nature will be great four our science classes,” Guffey said. “Being able to go out in the fresh air and still be in a learning environment is very
important.”
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.
printable version
e-mail this story
transformed into an outdoor classroom.
Community members, students and staff turned out to help complete the latest phase of the school’s ongoing landscaping project for about four hours on
Saturday morning, Oct. 4, in Kansas City North.
Called “Maple Park Goes Green,” the project has its roots in some long-held concerns by school officials over the thick stand of trees southeast of the school on North Bennington Avenue, according to Assistant
Principal Trisha Guffey.
The small, city-owned
forest was dangerous because it restricted sight lines for school staff and was an easy place to hide, Guffey said.
“The biggest thing is the safety element. It was a heavily wooded area that you couldn’t see through,” Guffey said. “Unfortunately, in today’s society, because of some of the people in the world, we have to think that way.”
With increased safety in mind, and also considering the general need to spruce up the school’s grounds,
counselor Lindsay Kobolt applied for and won a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for
Education grant in the spring.
Using the money from Lowe’s, volunteers were able to begin work on the school’s exterior, including new plantings and landscaping. Getting the “mini
forest” cleared, however, proved to be a job too big for the students, staff and parents, Guffey said.
“We did great on the
landscaping, but we didn’t make a dent on the mini forest,” Guffey said.
Officials with the Kansas City Department of Parks and Recreation gave the school permission to clear out the forest, Guffey said. They were not, however, able to offer any money or
assistance for the work.
Guffey then turned to her brother, Dan Carver, for advice about what to do with the forest. Carver works for Mid States Excavating. He voluntarily surveyed the site, then convinced his employers to spend three days in September clearing it out.
“It would have cost approximately $5,000, which is huge,” Guffey said.
Mid States Excavating was honored for its work at Maple Park Middle School and was named a Partner in
Education by Superintendent Tom Cummings Tuesday, Oct. 7, according to school district Communications Specialist Darlene Minx.
The school also received help from the Maple Park Homeowners Association and the Kansas City Department of Parks and Recreation during the Oct. 4 work day. The schools teachers, Guffey said, are already excited to use the new outdoor
classroom.
“Being out in nature will be great four our science classes,” Guffey said. “Being able to go out in the fresh air and still be in a learning environment is very
important.”
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.