Newly installed playground equipment at GES honors former Gainesville teachers
Gainesville resident Carole Long recently took her grandchildren to check out the new playground equipment that’s been installed at Gainesville Elementary. The play piece was purchased by the Gainesville Parent Teacher Organization with donations made by former students in honor of their favorite teachers. The effort was launched with a $2,000 and a $1,000 gift from the family of longtime teacher June Hicks, who died in 2019. Pictured with Long, clockwise from upper left: Emmett, 7; Esme, 6; Lillyan, 2; and Delilah, 2. ......... Times photo / Jessi Dreckman
The Gainesville Parent Teacher Organization recently finished installing new playground equipment at the Gainesville Elementary School that was purchased after a fundraising effort that honors former teachers while supporting the district’s young students of today.
The project, which had a $10,000 goal, was launched in October 2019 with a $2,000 gift from Steve Hicks using funds that were given in memory of his wife, longtime teacher June Hicks, after her death on Feb. 28, 2019. June’s sisters, Judy Turner and Gay Strong, donated an additional $1,000 to kick-start the giving.
With that generous start, the PTO invited anyone, former students or simply admirers, who remembered a beloved teacher to make a contribution to the fund in their honor or memory.
A sign installed near the play piece lists the names of these teachers who were honored with gifts: John and Susan Ault, Elvis Barrett, Phyllis Bentley, Dorothy Blackburn, Janice Blisard, Benton and Genelle Breeding, Tina Britt, Ealum Bruffett, W.W. and Doris Clark, Patty Crisp, Verla Cubbage, Jane Elder, Gary Emrick, Karen Eubank, Patsy Hambelton, Jean Herd, June Hicks, Ida Mae Huse, Cheryl Lawson, Kris Ledbetter, Alice Lord, Barbara Luna, Mearle and Stella Luna, Thana Breeding Mahan, Barbara McGee, Brandi Miller, Earlene Patterson Morrison, Evelyn Patterson Morrison, Madge Parker, Barbara Pettit, Ron Pinckney, Diana Premer, Paula Herd Rose, Bryan Silvey, Kathy Snell and Judy Turner. Mike Harlin’s name will be added to the sign soon.
The new playground equipment replaced a wooden, boat-shaped play piece that was more than 20 years old.