Presidents receives more than $7,000 in donations

ARLINGTON — A new piece of playground equipment will soon be constructed at Presidents Elementary School.

On Monday, Sept. 28, the Arlington School Board approved a $5,200 donation from the school's PTA to purchase the equipment, which will primarily be used by preschool-aged children, Presidents principal Terri Bookey said.

Presidents Elementary provides preschool services to students throughout the entire district.

"It was a project that had been talked about for a long time but never came to fruition," Bookey said. "It needed to be a smaller piece of equipment versus our bigger playground."

Bookey said the PTA donation will fund the purchase and installation of the new equipment, which will include a double slide and a crawl tube.

The school district will fund the remaining cost, which includes prep work for the site.

Tammy Wittenberg, president of the school's PTA, said she's not sure when the playground will be completed, but hopes it's before the end of the school year.

"Once the School Board approves it, it's in the district's hands," Wittenberg said.

The PTA also donated $2,000 to the district in support of the Presidents' PAWS — or Positive Attitudes With Style — program.

"It's our incentive program to promote good citizenship within our school," Bookey said.

Through the program, students are encouraged to go out of their way to be helpful in the classroom, she said. They receive small awards, called PAWS tickets, from PAWS throughout the school year.

The classroom with the largest amount of PAWS tickets wins a pizza party at the end of the year.

PAWS and its prizes are primarily funded through Presidents' PTA.

"It's great because it is really important for us to balance discipline," Bookey said. "This allows us to encourage those positive behaviors."

Wittenberg said the PTA funded both donations by selling cookie dough to community members.

"The PTA are the managers of this, but it's the families that do all the work," she said.

Contact Arlington Times Reporter Adam Rudnick at arudnick@arlingtontimes.com or 360-659-1300 Ext. 5056.

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