Fundraising Help Needed in CA

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http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2 ... /01gym.txt

Hundred-meter cash
Placer asking community to help raise money for dilapidated track, gym

By: Ryan Sabalow, Journal Staff Writer

After being closed for more than a month for resurfacing, the Placer High track was finally reopened Friday.

Though students were putting the springy, bright-red track to the test in their physical education classes and the Placer High marching band was out doing drills, the job of improving the school's athletic facilities is hardly finished.

The problem is there isn't any money available in the school's general maintenance fund. That source was depleted to finish the track. But close to $150,000 is needed to improve other ailing track and field areas at Placer, like the school's archaic discus and shot put rings and pole vault pit.

There's also the problem of the school's decrepit lower gym, which has a floor that looks more like the surface of the moon than a usable playing surface.

There is hope, however.
The capital improvement project hopes to revamp Placer’s shot put area into something like this at Granite Bay High School. Photo by Kent Rhodes/Courtesy to the Journal

A group of parents and faculty are calling for community involvement in providing funds and services for the capital improvement project

As a father of a track star at Placer and a former pole-vaulter himself, Kent Rhodes joined forces with Placer High athletic director Mark Lee and fellow concerned parent Charles Miles to spearhead the project.

Rhodes said the track team hasn't been able to train to its full potential with the dilapidated equipment.

"Last year we had a single shot-put ring and single discus (area) for approximately 40 throwers," Rhodes said. "At the end of the project, we'll have a fully functional area for competition and training. It would be eight instead of one."

Rhodes has used Granite Bay High School's facilities as a guide, and hopes the $30,000 project would also revamp the school's long jump and pole-vault pits and add a state-of-the-art Lynx automatic timing system.
Kent Rhodes points to Placer High’s only discus-throwing area. Rhodes, who’s spearheading a capital improvement project that seeks to raise more than $150,000 for school-wide athletic improvements, hopes to add several new discus and shot-put rings. Photo by Ryan Sabalow/Auburn Journal

Rhodes said improving Placer High's track and facilities wouldn't just benefit the students.

"It's a multipurpose facility for the whole community," Rhodes said gesturing to the newly resurfaced track.

Placer High School Capital Improvement Project

What: A community fundraising effort to help revamp Placers track and gym facilities

How to Help: To donate to the project, contact Dave Horsey, Placer High Principal

Cost: Labor, funds and materials are needed

Call: 885-4581
"Every morning and every night there are people running on this."

The lower gym, which is used primarily for PE classes and junior varsity sports, could also use some help. The capital improvement project would also use $120,000 to resurface the floor, add two regulation volleyball courts, and remodel the gym to better accommodate more seating, wrestling facilities and badminton.

Improving the gym been a long time in coming, Lee said. The facility was built in 1936.

"We're trying to preserve the beautiful gym we have," he said.

Lee said it's difficult to play sports in the gym because of spacing issues and the poor condition of the floor, which is bubbling and peeling in several places.

Rhodes has worked with school administrators to resurrect the booster group, The Hillman Foundation, and has been rallying support for the project by speaking with civic groups in the community.

Though monetary donations help, Rhodes said community members could also step up and help out by donating labor and materials for the project.

"A lot of other work can easily be done by local contractors," he said.

If enough money can be raised, Rhodes said the capital improvement project could be completed by the start of track season.

As a Placer junior on the color guard, Nathalie Marcella said any improvements to the track and field would be beneficial, especially after having to run drills on Agard Street while the track was being resurfaced.

"It's actually very nice. If you run on this, you don't slide," she said scuffing her shoes on the new track. "If you drop the equipment, it doesn't damage it."

Principal Dave Horsey said the improvement project is something the school needs, but without the funds, the district relies on groups like Rhodes' for support.

"We can do a lot more for the kids," Horsey said.

The Journal's Ryan Sabalow can be reached at ryans@goldcountrymedia.com.