“I never get to lunch early enough,” said Bishop, who comes across the school from choir class before lunch. By the time she arrives in the cafeteria, the five outside tables are already filled with students.
Bishop currently sits inside the cafeteria with about 10 other people, so she said she is excited for a proposed updated courtyard including increased sitting area to allow her friends the opportunity to sit outside at lunch.
Along with adding more new tables with umbrellas in the courtyard near the cafeteria, plans also include extending the gravel and planting shrubs and a flower bed along the back wall.
The updated courtyard is part of the Building Warriors’ Campaign, an initiative to create better learning environments through fundraised projects. Four schools in the Penn-Trafford school district chose one area to improve and created a fundraising goal for the project. All money will be raised solely through donations from the community.
“We thought of updating the courtyard because there are so many kids that go out there for lunch and things, and it was run-down and the bricks were falling apart.” P-T High School principal Tony Aquilio said. “It just wasn’t very appealing to the eye.”
The project will begin whenever sufficient funding is reached. Currently, the school has collected over $6,000 out of the $33,800 goal.
The cost for each project varies between schools. While Sunrise has a fundraising budget of $140,000 for a new playground, McCullough will fundraise $5,000 for a sensory room.
The high school plans to begin construction as soon as sufficient funding is reached. Even if it is cold outside, the landscapers will begin construction, Aquilio said.
“The umbrellas are the variable. If we collect enough funds for everything but the umbrellas, we’ll go forward with the project and just not use them until we have those funds. So there are pieces we can do along the way to start it,” Aquilio said.
Once the courtyard is renovated, the space will double as a social and learning environment. It will continue to be used as an outdoor cafeteria area and also as a place where teachers can bring classes.
“It will give teachers and students an alternative classroom setting,” Aquilio said. “Students love to go out there for lunch, it helps with mental health, and it just makes for a better learning experience.”
To see other schools’ campaigns, visit this link: https://www.penntrafford.org/apps/pages/campaign