The Rookery

Last week was a special one at Prairie Creek.  No one on staff could remember the last time that new sand had been delivered to the sand box.  In fact, until last year, no one on staff really knew there was a sandbox.  The pile of scruffy dirt by the forts had been used as a fire pit more than anything else during our tenure at the school.

But then some enterprising diggers unearthed the sandbox edges and soon they were digging out the whole thing.  It was a really nice sandbox and, as O.F. pointed out, it deserved some nice sand.

O.F. took the lead and measured the sandbox.  You may remember the problem of the week in which students figured out its capacity.  O. used those figures and called around to various sand providers to get quotes for the sand.  The cost would be about $200.  While we began to think about fundraisers, winter set in and the project was put on the back burner for a while.

The early spring brought a new frenzy of digging and Simon remembered O.'s project.  He had found some money in the budget to cover the sand!  O. called back our suppliers, confirmed their fall bids and we filled out a purchase order for the sand.  

Side note:  watching this child on the phone was a good reminder to me of just how capable fourth and fifth graders are.  Even though I make a living working with them, I am often surprised by what they can do when given the opportunity.  Have your child do laundry, plan a meal, order at restaurants and call a friend to arrange a ride.  They're ready.

Back to the sand — Cemstone won our business and the sand (12 TONS — 8 CUBIC YARDS!!!) arrived on Thursday afternoon.  There was much rejoicing.

It was a lot of fun to see the project come to fruition and to me, a true story of what it means to be "child centered."  Thanks, too, to everyone who has given generously to the school this year and made it possible for Simon to "find" that $200 in our budget.  And thanks to O.F. for his energy and persistance – the sand has made a lot of kids very, very happy.

Pictures are from the initial sand play on Thursday afternoon — thanks to Nancy for sending them my way.