Published: October 08, 2009 08:07 am      

Willard Grade Center playground receives makeover

By JOE CLAXTON

ACS Publications Director



ADA — School was out, but 33 orange-clad Team Depot members and 14 teachers in work clothes punched the overtime clock on the outside of Willard Grade Center recently. The recipient of a Home Depot Celebration of Service grant, Willard’s grounds and playgrounds were spruced up and painted up by the $5,000 grant.

Lavoise McCabe, associate coordinator for the local Home Depot, said the Team Depot crew at the Ada City Schools 5th and 6th grade center was composed of employees from Oklahoma and Texas stores. The grant was one of 30 awarded in Home Depot districts.

A wide variety of plants were delivered, ranging from purple fountain grass to mums and fire bushes to truckloads of sod. Flower beds were quickly installed and another crew refurbished playground equipment.

“Home Depot tries to give back to the community and this is just one of the ways they accomplish it,” McCabe said.

The school had just undergone extensive renovation over the summer, and principal Kevin Mann, who put in for the grant, said the outside work was the icing on the cake.

“We have our inside renovated thanks to the bond issue and now we are working to make the outside comparable, thanks to the Home Depot Celebration of Service grant,” Mann said.