MEETING INFORMATION

Two notes on our upcoming meetings:

1) Wednesday @ the Edgerton site - if you'd rather not go through the development, you can turn left off of 122nd onto 164th instead. It is listed as a priviate road. This will get you right to the back of the site. Watch out for the many speed bumps. Be aware that it is muddy and may be rainy (there is no shelter to get under, so an umbrella and shoes that can get a bit dirty would be good). I know a couple of you are coming from other meetings. Call me on my cell, if you are running behind - 732-0303.

2) Next week's 4-7 p.m. meeting (Tuesday, Sept. 26th) will be at Meeker Elementary. I am aware we are all South Hill employees, but Meeker's remodel work was just completed by one of the same construction companies that is working on Edgerton (a good peek) and they have also purchased some furniture that we can see if we like (you will be involved in that decision making later).

BUDGET BACKGROUND INFORMATION

One of the three/four budgets Arturo and I have a bit of control over is the playground equipment (the others being library/technology/furniture). If you are interested in helping with making decisions around playground equipment, let me know. Ultimately, all of the Edgerton Lead Team will be able to give input and will hear from the reps below, but it would be great if some of you could join me in actually looking at the equipment in sites in the area and discussing pros & cons of each - becoming our Lead Team playground experts. We have approximately $70-75,000 to spend on outside play equipment (keep this info. discreet at this time). We are asking some clarifying questions to others in terms of what exactly would not need to be bought by this budget (gym hoops, big-toy ground covering, PE equipment, etc.). We are looking at spending about $40K on a main play structure, then using the remaining budget for basketball hoops, tetherball equipment, those quad-hoops that refeed you the ball once you make a basket, etc.........if you have ideas in this area, let me know, but for know we need to make a main playground structure idea. The playground "big toy" and an electronic reader board were part of the bond so PTA does not have to fundraise for those items, but we may look at some fundraising for a smaller/primary structure to help get more for our kids. We will see how far our money stretches and what the PTA is thinking as it begins to form over the next couple months.

WANT TO HELP WITH OUR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT?

We are moving right along with choosing our equipment for our playgrounds.
Currently, Arturo and I have met with a rep from the three companies listed below. This does not mean that we are limited to these vendors. However, if the group feels that we have sufficient choices and competitive prices then we may choose to focus on these three companies. Below are some places that a few of us (me and you) may choose to visit, or other locations to be aware of just in case you happen to be in the area and want to take a look. We will coordinate visits for our purposes.

Kompan Company:
http://www.kompan.com/sw23449.asp
Neighbors Park (Tacoma Metro Parks)
McKinley Park (Tacoma Metro Parks)
Powell Barnet Park (352 Martin Luther King Way, Seattle)
New Adventures/Multi-Care Children's Center (1310 S. 4th St. Tacoma)

GameTime/SITELines:
http://www.sitelines.com/
Spinning Elementary
Stewart Elementary

Northwest Playground Equipment/PlayWorld Systems:
http://nwplayground.com/
Maplewood Elementary
Bradley Lake Park

Notice that the reps we met with may have been representing more than one company. I have included the website links to the companies listed above if you're interested in doing some perusing.

Things to keep in mind while looking at these options would be:
Ease of supervision
# of students that it can accomodate
Age appropriateness
All will be ADA accessible
Price
We currently have a 54 ft. diameter circular play area for this to go in. There needs to be a 6 ft buffer from the edge of the enclosure to any equipment, so will it fit?
After shipping, tax and installation (although we would be leaning toward a "volunteer" installation to help with costs), we are looking for a product in the $30,000 range.
All can be "customized".
I have a bunch of catalogs/info., if you want to dig deeper.

The most peculiar equipment is the Kompan - I am attaching a picture of the Arcturus in a follow-up email.

Have a wonderful Tuesday evening - I will see you tomorrow!
Guy

Welcome back to the blog!

This blog posting contains important info. related to our Lead Team, and requires action on your end. You will find info. on:
1) An Edgerton Site Tour (RSVP)
2) Our first date to work together (let me know if the date is OK or not)
3) Information on "Who's Who" on the Edgerton Lead Team
4) A short blurb on G. W. Edgerton, our namesake

Site Tour - I have scheduled a site tour for our team for next Wednesday, September 20th, starting at 3:45. RSVP via email, if you are planning on coming so that we are not waiting for you. The tour will last 30-45 minutes. We will be escorted by John Ovitt, the PSD project manager. The work crews should be pretty much wrapped up by the time we start, but it should be fun to get to finally meet all the team members and get a feel for current progress on the facility. To get to "The Edge", travel south on 122nd (which runs right in front of Pope) until you get to 168th, where you will turn left (there is a small sign for "Emerald Point"). Take 168th until it nearly ends and turn left on 127th into the development. You should be able to see the site at the end of the road. Travel to the end of 127th and turn right. Take this road to its "T" and turn left, then left again once you get to the end of the new houses, getting you to the backside of the property. I will be waiting there for the team to gather. You can park on the side of the street. Bring any questions you may have as well as some shoes that can get dusty.

Meeting Date - I am proposing that we get together for our first official work time on Tuesday, September 26th from 4-7 p.m. This, in addition to the above site tour, will be a paid four-hour time. I need to know if this date conflicts with anyone.....let me know asap. I will secure a place, once I am certain of the date. At this first meeting we will: take time to get to know each other a bit more, create a timeline/calendar for the rest of the year, and create a list of the work to be tackled in future meetings.

Edgerton's Lead Team- note the new link to the right of this posting - "More About Our Team". Click on it - this is the information you submitted. Take time to read about your colleagues and get to know more about who you will be working with. I am still working on a handful of pictures, inlcuding my own, and I apologize for not having them up. There have been technical glitches the past two days.

Who is George W. Edgerton? "Edgerton, a founding father of Puyallup, served as a civic and business leader in the community. His list of contributions are lengthy, including founder and director of Citizen’s State Bank for 46 years, a founder and director of the Western Washington Fair, and a member of thePuyallup School Board for 24 years." He has a handful of active relatives in the area - we will be working with them some over time. I heard, but did not see it on Wednesday, that there is a good display at The Fair with pictures and info. on him. I plan to track that down. I understand that he was friends with Ezra Meeker as well. More to come...

Let me know on the Tour and First Meeting Date. Erin & Amanda have agreed to help with compiling the students' input on Mascot and Colors in the coming days......we will keep you informed of the "finalists" (last day to give your own input, if you wish). Have a super weekend.

Guy

Thanks for finding your way back here! You are offiicial "bloggers" now (maybe you already were)!

Here are a few Edgerton Lead Team related items:

1. Thank you to those who have taken time to send me your "information" that I had asked for (pictures are encouraged too). I will be working to get that info. up on the blog asap. If you have not done so, please do as quickly as you can.
2. Thanks also to those who shared they could help with the Fair booth. As it has worked out, Arturo and I are just going to cover that booth the best we can between the two of us. We are right next to the Facilities Dept., so we figure we can cover it (me in the a.m., him in the p.m.). THEREFORE, WE DO NOT NEED ANY LEAD TEAM MEMBERS TO HELP AT THE FAIR AFTERALL, but huge thanks for your willingness! Enjoy the day with your family!
3. Today, literally 40 minutes ago, we got the green light to get our team together this month. My boss said to move forward and if the district has not figured out the budget situation, then she will cover the cost with her own budget....bless her!
4. On that note, look for a meeting time to be set soon for a get-together before the end of the month. While we have important work to do, I think it is more important that we get together more casually so we can get to know each other. I would love to tie this to a quick "on-site tour" so you can see where the construction phase is. You will hear from me soon on this.
5. FYI - I am sending home the "Mascot and School Colors" information with students tomorrow (Friday). They will have one week to give input. If you would like to submit your ideas as well, feel free to do so here, through an email, on the forms I gave you, or just a phone call. Also, once the votes are in, if you want to help look at the input to create the "final voting list" with me, let me know and we can get together to do that.....note the timeline on the draft form I sent - it is a quick turn around.

That's it - have a great end-to-the-week and a fantastic weekend!

Guy