School Board hears requests for recreational project, program

Students and residents addressed the Monroe-Woodbury Board of Education regarding recreational activities at its Wednesday, Oct. 8 meeting.

During a public hearing, Monroe-Woodbury Middle School students Charlotte Wittrock and Julianna Ferrara, who are both Girl Scouts cadets, spoke to the board about their Silver Award project to build a gaga ball pit for North Main Elementary students. The project is in partnership with North Main Principal Roger Davis and Assistant Principal Amanda Greenblatt.

Ferrara said that gaga ball is a fast-paced game, where players have to dodge from being hit below the knee with a soft ball while inside an octagonal pit. She added that the game has many benefits, including the development of physical and mental skills and abilities.

Wittrock recommended for the gaga pit to be placed at North Main’s side lot to make it more accessible for students, pointing out how recess typically occurs at the side lot instead of the lower field playground.

Wittrock and Ferrara plan to purchase the ball pit from Coach Cliff’s GaGa Ball Pits, which is the same vendor that the Middle School used to acquire their own ball pit. Since North Main does not have the budget to fund the project, both students raised $540 so far through fundraising at events. To reach their goal of approximately $4,400, they reached out to the Board for their assistance in funding the project.

Also during the public hearing, Monroe resident Lorraine Loening requested the Board to bring back the Spring Enrichment program, which was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program allowed everyone from infants to adults to attend swimming and diving classes at the Middle School pool.

Loening said that restoring the program would “re-engage families with the pool,” encouraging families to support future investments in the facility. She added that bringing the program back is also “a matter of safety and public health.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 4,000 fatal unintentional drowning deaths happen in the United States every year. Drowning is the leading cause of death among children ages 1-4, and is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes in children ages 5-14.

“These are preventable tragedies,” Loening said. “As educators, you understand the power of education to change a child’s life. But when you teach a child to swim, you may actually save their life.”

Capital project update

During the meeting, Patrick Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Management Services provided a brief update on the district’s capital project, which is focused on improvements and upgrades to all seven school buildings and five work buildings.

This past summer, construction of the project’s first phase occurred, including boiler replacements at Monroe-Woodbury High School and Smith Clove Elementary, and a security vestibule at Pine Tree Elementary.

Cahill said that bids for phase two are out and are expected to be back later this month. He added that phase two will begin before the summer, which includes the reconstruction of the tennis courts outside of the high school and HVAC work at Pine Tree Elementary.