SUMMER 2005 - UNIVERSITY CITY, MO. - The practice of naming
buildings for donors is as old as universities themselves. Now
budgetary realities of the 21st century are causing public K-12 schools
to maximize naming opportunities. Project
Appleseed new details of a plan for a new recreation center at
University City High School that calls for a $27 million in major named
gifts to finance the construction of the $24 million facility by 2008.
A draft of the proposal has been posted on the Internet. A final plan
will be submitted to the new superintendent and the University City
Board of Education for approval. (click
here to download plan .pdf).
To
determine naming priorities, planners started by asking what the most
visible and heavily utilized parts of the new recreation and alumni
center will be. Determining what areas of the facility can be named is
the one aspect of named gifts. It all started with bringing the
architects in a year ago, costing out the project and looking at the
renderings. Some of these are obvious: the facility name, the main gym,
Hall of Fame, new Natatorium, gymnasiums, locker rooms, team meeting
rooms, lecture hall theater, coaches' offices and even portions of
other spaces - the diving well in the Natatorium, for example, or the
diving platform over the diving well - all have naming potential.
Anything that costs $25,000 or more should be named. In addition to
named gifts, current and future contributors to the James E.
Baker Annual Fund, (contributions of $25,000 or less) have the
potential of generating several million dollars each year in annual
contributions. The Baker Annual Fund contributors will be honored on
permanent displays in the Alumni Grand Hall of Fame and atrium entrance
to the facility.
(Drawing above) Rendering of a new Balson
Avenue Plaza and Balcony which leads to the atrium entrance of the
Lion Heart Center @ UCHS as envisioned by alumni parent, architect Greg
Mayes, AIA.
Download plan: Remembering, Reconnecting, Rebuilding, University City High School
Go to: Project Appleseed University City
St. Louis' Plan Similar to University City
Athletics Shine in New Superintendent's Plans
St. Louis
Schools Watch, By
Peter Downs
ST. LOUIS, MO. It has been decades since the St. Louis
Public Schools had a facility capable of hosting track meets or a
regional football tournament. If Ross Woolsey can pull it off, however,
the city's public schools could soon have such a facility again.
On May 10, Woolsey presented to the
St. Louis Board of Education a plan for building and operating a
private, not-for-profit, multipurpose stadium to serve the public
school system and the larger city community, and to do so at no cost to
the school district. His proposal,
made as part of Superintendent Creg Williams' report, was endorsed by
the school board later that night.
Woolsey's plan is for a 10-acre stadium, 17
acres with parking, that would include an artificial turf field for
football and soccer; an 8-lane track; pole vault, high jump, long jump,
discus, and shot put facilities; sports lighting; bleacher seating for
3,000; concession stands; rest rooms; locker rooms; and security. The
facility would be available for community use when the public schools
don't need it.
The plan has similarities with
the proposal being developed for University City High School. Woolsey's proposal is to raise private
donations to pay for construction of the facility and to fund an
endowment that would pay for an on-site manager and ongoing, on-site
maintenance. He said he has talked with several potential donors,
all of whom expressed two fears: one, that if they donated money for
the project to the St. Louis Public Schools, it would get mingled with
other funds and used for something else; and two, that they themselves
would become entangled and tarnished by the school board's ongoing
controversies. To address those fears, Woolsey has established a
private, not-for-profit corporation to own and operate the stadium
independently of the board of education.
He said the St. Louis Rams have committed to helping make the project a
reality. The Rams' Michael Yarborough is on the corporation board of
directors with Woolsey. Prominent St. Louis architectural firm Mackey
Mitchell Associates produced three possible plans for the facility, and
leaders of several other local firms have agreed to serve on a panel of
experts to advise the new corporation. Floyd Irons has helped determine
the facility needs.
Woolsey hopes to select a site for
the stadium this summer and break ground in the Fall of 2006. Boards of
education have approved privately financed capital campaigns and gifts
in St. Louis, Clayton, Ladue, and Afton in the last year.
Your opinion
please.... Parents
& No Child Left Behind.
Critical opinions
from parents, community members, and educators in University City, MO
Project Appleseed President Kevin Walker
participated in a national meeting in early June featuring Dr. Nina S.
Rees, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Innovation and Improvement. The Baltimore, MD., trip was paid by the
DoEd and parent leaders from across the country met with the DoEd
senior staff to discuss parents and No Child Left Behind. University
City residents e-mailed messages concerning parents and No Child Left
Behind - positive or negative - and were conveyed to the Department.
Read those comments and post additional ones on Project Appleseed's web
log. Your opinion please..the Appleseed Blog.
Go to: http://www.projectappleseed.org/blog/
Appleseed Director
Provides the Keynote Address at the 8th Annual Family Involvement
Conference for Maryland Family Works
The Maryland Family Works
Conference featured Project Appleseed President Kevin Walker as the
keynote speaker at the May 3, 2005, gathering in Baltimore, Maryland. Walker was joined on the podium by the
President of the Maryland PTA, the Deputy Superintendent of the
Maryland Department of Education, and representatives of the Maryland
Governor's office. The Family Works coordinates federally funded Parent
Information and Resource Centers across the state.
Kevin Walker told the audience of
1,000 educators and parent leaders, "The parents who are actively
involved in their child's education know whether their kids are being
left behind. These parents aren't waiting for a signal from the U.S.
Department of Education," said Walker. "The people with the most at
stake are parents. For years, we've been demanding that school
officials fix failing schools. Now we are realizing that nothing will
change unless we do some of the heavy lifting ourselves. "
Job Well Done. Thank you Vern Moore.
UNIVERSITY
CITY - When Vern Moore arrived in University City as Superintendent, he
introduced the first realistic plan for school improvement in over
eight years. The plan began with the words "An intervention is needed
to improve University City schools". Empty slogans such as 'Show the
Pride' were replaced with 'No Excuses'. Four years later the
intervention continues and the district can point to improvement in all
of U. City's schools. Dr. Vern
Moore, Ed. D., will retire as superintendent of the School District
of University City, effective June 30, 2005.
He said the
decision to leave University City and the St. Louis area was extremely
difficult. He and his wife plan to return to an area near their native
Oklahoma City. "You never really
know when the time is right. However, I feel comfortable knowing that
this is the time my wife and I would like to spend with our family,
especially our grandkids who live out of state," said Moore.
We wish him all the best! E-mail Dr. Moore at vmoore@u-city.k12.mo.us!
