Smiles are the order at Carpenter Hill Elementary these days, to a large part due to a dedicated group of parent volunteers headlined by the campus Parent Teacher Association. Sharing the Colts’ smiles going into the Christmas break are (left to right) PTA Parliamentarian Samantha Zapalac, Carpenter Hill Elementary Principal Jason Certain and PTA President Dora Zapata. (Photo by Jim Cullen)
by JIM CULLEN
It’s a hard—and expensive—business opening a school campus. The last decade’s explosion of new school campuses across Hays CISD has proven that over and over again. And the district’s most recent openings, Carpenter Hill Elementary and Pfluger Elementary, both opening their doors to students in 2010, are no exception. It’s one (admittedly huge) thing to get a 21st century school built. It’s quite another thing to get it fully furnished with all of the necessary things it takes to operate a campus for hundreds of students, to say nothing of the uncounted “wished for” items.
The difference between what’s necessary and what’s wished for can be a blurred line, but suffice it to say that it’s often dedicated and committed parents who come to the plate to take a swing at filling in some of the gaps. This school year’s first big support news was a $1,000 IBM Community Service Grant, secured for the purchase of the Colts’ proposed Mobile Learning Lab Program. Carpenter Hill was eligible for the grant and received it, according to the awarding letter, “in recognition of the volunteer service of (IBM employee) Samantha Zapalac.” IBM’s “On Demand Community” program encourages employees to volunteer to enrich the community where they live and work and Ms. Zapalac, also a Carpenter Hill parent, adheres to this principle by volunteering several hours a week supporting teachers and students on campus.
What the initial IBM grant did for the Colts was provide a running start toward their mobile learning lab, and it was their PTA that filled in the rest of that puzzle. In mid-November, the PTA voted to split the proceeds of its fall fundraiser between PTA-sponsored programs and the start-up needs of the school, PTA President Dora Zapata explains.
As for those PTA-sponsored programs, $20,000 was set aside to fund a spring carnival, promotion of the CHES environmental awareness campaigns and continued expansion of student enrichment and recognition programs. The Colts’ PTA also came through with an additional $10,000, Zapata says, “to be donated to the school to purchase supplemental lab equipment, an outdoor basketball goal, as well as supplement [the earlier] IBM grant towards the purchase of a mobile iPad lab.”
Zapata says the PTA’s intent is “to enrich the lives and opportunities of all students and families within our community.” It’s a goal that appears to be taking hold at Carpenter Hill and the benefits to legions of students who will follow the present-day Colts are yet to be told.
