A grant, a gazebo, and some good-hearted volunteers

Don Rish, Michael Tofte, and Gary Panichella lend their years of skills to the next generation at Irving School. (photo N.G.)

The days were sweltering and the shade non-existent.

And though they were off the clock – or retired completely! – three borough employees donated their tools and their time this summer on behalf of the children of Irving Primary School.

Donald Rish, Superintendent of Public Works; Lieutenant Gary Panichella of the Highland Park Police Department; and retired police officer Michael Tofte joined parent volunteers over a series of summer days to construct Dragon Tales Theatre, a gazebo for the Irving playground.

The gazebo, the brainchild of Irving preschool teacher Vicki Zarra, was made possible by a Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant totaling $5,000. The home improvement store chain has been offering grants to schools in need for six years now.

Each year, through its foundation, the Lowe's home improvement chain provides over 1000 public schools and parent-teacher organizations with a total of $5 million. The announcement confirming Irving School's win of the grant award came in February of this year.

In applying for the grant, Zarra cited recent programming constraints resulting from budget cuts.

“The cuts to important programs put the burden on classroom teachers to incorporate ‘non-core’ areas of instruction into their limited time. Dragon Tales Theatre will be a source of inspiration and respite for teachers and students, alike.”

The gazebo, billed as an outdoor classroom, was proposed as a place to foster innovation for both students and teachers. Zarra envisions the space to be utilized for all sorts of classroom activities.

In addition, with the remainder of the grant money, Zarra plans to purchase plants to decorate the perimeter of the gazebo, creating a small butterfly garden as well as an enticing science area for children to observe and explore the foliage as the season change.

The grant application describes Zarra’s vision in full: “At first look, a request for a Lowe's gazebo may sound simplistic. Yet, as seasoned educators appreciate, children are inspired by novelty."

"This single structure transformed with vivid, colorful plants will allow an empty space at Irving School to become a place of creativity and imagination [ . . . where] teachers can foster music, art, writing, reading, science, and dramatics with their students in an environment ideal for stimulating young minds."

"It is to be a unique place on school grounds for students to perform poetry aloud, read quietly in a cozy nook, or observe the wonders of the nature around them.”

The application concluded with a simple statement: “With this project, we pursue our mission: By teaching outside the box of classroom walls, we teach students to think outside the box, as well; we teach them to use their world around them as a source of imagination and learning, and remind them of the importance of the arts and of creative thinking.”

And, as parents and teachers of Irving hope, the gazebo will also serve as a reminder to students of the community that supports them, on or off the clock.