A groundbreaking celebration on Tuesday that included ceremonial tossing of dirt with golden shovels kicked off construction of a $1.3 million project that will build a new outdoor space at Chiloquin Elementary School.
The Chiloquin Green Schoolyard project will include a redesigned and enhanced playground area, a covered outdoor basketball court, interpretative walking paths, and community garden spaces at the elementary school.
Tuesday’s event was attended by Chiloquin Elementary School students, project organizers, and community supporters and donors. Don Gentry, chair of The Klamath Tribes, gave the blessing; drummers from the Warrior Society performed, and campaign leaders and key partners spoke of the long-lasting impact the project will have on the community and its families.
“We know there is a lot of competition for these resources and for you to put your dollars here in our corner of the world … for our kids, for our community, it means a great deal,” Clay Dumont of The Klamath Tribes told supporters. The project is funded through grants and donations.
Organizers will work with a local artist to create a mural on an outside wall of the school as well as have students design artwork for murals on the covered outdoor basketball court. The walking paths will highlight native plants and pollinators and include interpretative signs, some with native Klamath words.
As a final gesture, Erin Borla of the Roundhouse Foundation on Tuesday presented the school with 60 new balls – basketball, footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls – for use on the playground.
The project is a collaboration between the Trust for Public Land, the Willamette Partnership, Chiloquin Elementary School, Chiloquin City Council, Chiloquin FIRST, The Klamath Tribes, Chiloquin Visions in Progress, Ford Institute for Community Building, Healthy Klamath/Blue Zones Project, Oregon Health & Outdoors Initiative, and the Klamath County School District.
Nationwide, the Trust for Public Land has transformed more than 300 underused schoolyards into nature-rich parks designed to address inequities in education, health, and climate impacts. The schoolyard transformations include agreements between a school district and other local agencies and allow the community to use the space when school is closed.
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