The ugly duckling otherwise known as the Palmer playground was transformed into a beautiful swan thanks to all the hard work of these volunteers who dedicated their entire day on September 11 to restoring the playground into a thing of pride for the neighborhood. Thank you to all the volunteers whose hard work, patience, and extreme digging resulted in the planting of eight trees and approximately 250 perennials.
Representatives from every classroom, except kindergarten, helped with the planting event. The following Palmer parent volunteers and their children included: Mercedes Osburn; Vincent Neel; Carol Delong; Jamie Bianchi; Brenda Voglewede; Ann Bennett; Sarah Parker; Ellen Schaeffer; Peggy Waldon; Barclay and Sandy Jones; Megan Thatch: Maria Rosario Ochoa-Perez; Dayton and Lisa Sewald; Jenny Apple; Catherine Alber; Flora Stark; and Takisha and Tracy Allen.
Also helping out were Mara Fielding-Purdy and Bill Cassell from the city of Denver, Katie McKain from the University of Colorado-Denver, and a group from Kaiser-Permanente including: Jeanne Reid; Diane Boehringer; Wendy Flitter; Xiaolan Liang; Cheryl Balint; Kris Howe; and Le Quynh.
Additional community help was provided by Amy Johnson, Denver Urban Garden leader, and Lynn Gregory from the Mayfair Neighbors, Inc. board, and owner of her own landscape design business.
Byline
We have been parents at Palmer elementary school for three years now, and are very happy that our kids are able to attend their neighborhood school. Most days the weather permits bike riding or walking to school, and both kids have loved scheduling “play dates” with neighborhood friends after school. Our daughter attended early childhood education (ECE) at Palmer last year and loved every minute of it. ECE prepared her so well that she tested into advanced kindergarten. She also continues to play with her ECE friends from last year both at school and after school, which is important to us. We hope that many of the advanced kindergarten families will consider keeping their children at Palmer after this year.
Our son has struggled more with school, and over the three years at Palmer his teachers have all focused on his strengths and have remained positive and supportive. Mrs. Fultz , his first-grade teacher, really emphasized the importance of reading as a family for 20 minutes every day for all of her students. At first this was a battle, but over time it became routine. Soon he was able to read really cool books like Star Wars (much more fun than the beginning books!).
Palmer has been great with providing support services such as psychologists, speech therapists and an entire team to assess behavior problems to help each child at Palmer attain his or her potential. We really appreciate the creativity and dedication of Palmer’s teachers and Mrs. Trujillo in making the school a great place for kids to learn and grow.
—Kathy, Eric, Connor, and Jillian Osborne
My children love Palmer Elementary. My son in third grade, daughter in kindergarten, and youngest in ECE can’t wait to share the day’s activities and adventures with my husband and me. My son, a third-grader this year, is so excited about science -- he delights in quizzing me on my oft forgotten science knowledge. My daughter in kindergarten loves reading books at home; she shows me how her teachers have taught her to do a “picture walk” and sound out words with beginning reader books. My youngest child is in ECE, and her favorite time of day is naptime! All of my children love the library, physical education, and art. Each day, I’m so pleased to hear about their positive experiences at school.
When an unfortunate incident takes place at any school, parents must reflect on how it may impact their own children and all of the children in our community. I took some time and I thought about my experiences and the experiences of those around me at Palmer. While we’ll probably never know all the details, I’m satisfied that I know enough about the reputation of the principal and the quality of instruction by great teachers to feel secure that the students at Palmer are nurtured, respected, and safe.
I’m proud of the success, character development, and mentoring that Palmer has helped to provide for my children. This excellent learning environment stems from the leadership of a strong principal, the hard work of each teacher, and the love and commitment of caring parents.
—Rachel Fewell, parent of 3 happy Palmer children
