Kids playing outside and having fun is a sight many people enjoy seeing.

A long-awaited project at Benchley-Weinberger Elementary School in San Carlos to install grass turf on the gravel fields received the green light with district approval. As such, kids will have a more enjoyable and safer setting before too long.

Taryn Gross is one of the parents who has been a driving force behind the outdoor upgrades. She serves on the foundation for the school.

According to Gross, the playing area for kids now is nothing more than dirt and gravel.

“It has been a dream for our community, teachers and parents to have grass fields for our students to safely play on for decades,” Gross commented.

Gross stated there have been roadblocks to getting the setting both kids and parents want.

The roadblocks have included:

1. There is very little district funding available given the school is not a Title 1 school. All the education funding is raised via grassroots fundraising.

2. Such a project needs approval from the district. This involves a lot of time, red tape, patience and challenges.

3. The scope of such a project is expensive; estimated to be at $300,000.

“Our school and our kids with gravel-scraped bandaged knees has been yearning for this seemingly impossible dream as long as all our families can remember,” Gross added.

Longtime kindergarten teacher Sue Sward noted, “I was at a staff meeting in the fall of 1996 when the principal asked us how to spend $10,000. I said ‘GRASS! Let’s plant grass!’ the whole staff looked at me like I had lost my mind. The principal said, ‘Grass is expensive. It would take a miracle for us to get a grass lawn.’ These parents are our miracle workers. They are making it happen and we are forever grateful all of the families who have supported our school community.”

According to Benchley-Weinberger Foundation President Stephanie Stocking, the goal is to provide students with a safe place to exercise, make connections with peers, all the while engaging in outdoor learning.

“Our families have focused fund-raising efforts on installing nearly 40,000 square feet of artificial turf for a safe and beautiful place to play and learn,” Stocking remarked. “The primary playground is the designated space for recess for grades 1-3, the space we gather for assemblies, the area used for our annual jog-athon, and the location for PE and other outdoor activities.”

To her knowledge, Stocking said the school has never had a grass or turf field in the areas where the project is focusing on.

“We are approaching our project in two phases, and the first field – approximately 22,000 square feet – is scheduled to have turf installed in August – just in time for the students to return in the fall,” Stocking commented. “Our goal is to continue the momentum and raise the funds needed to install turf on the second field – approximately 15,000 square feet – in summer 2023. We need to raise these funds in addition to the money we raise to fund enrichment programs, pay for a reading interventionist, support the media lab, and other ongoing commitments to the school.”

As Stocking noted, “We are unfortunately the only school in our area without grass or turf, so we have been figuring this out as we go along. The Foundation is composed of 15 parents who are volunteering our time to help improve and enrich our school. We would love to have a green space like the other schools in the Patrick Henry cluster.”

Stocking added that parents and others involved in the project would like to get some sponsorships.

“We would be really excited to have sponsorships from local businesses, and we have planned ways to recognize sponsors through banners on the school fences and inclusion in newsletters to our school community,” Stocking remarked. “We would also be so grateful for direct donations to our project. This is an amazing neighborhood school in a fantastic neighborhood and community, and we believe that we can all come together to make this huge change to campus that will benefit students for years to come.”

For more information, visit: bwpta.org/bw-turf-project/

– Reach editor Dave Thomas at: [email protected].