In a time when it seems just about every elementary school in Dallas is creating outdoor learning centers, Lipscomb Elementary has fallen sadly behind.
Not only is the school lacking such a center, but the playground equipment is decades old, some of it unsafe and all of it outdated.
That’s why last spring, parents and faculty decided to band together to improve the situation. Activating a long-defunct PTA was first on the agenda for Principal Yolanda Gonzalez.
Gonzalez holds a special place in her heart for Lipscomb. Before becoming a principal, she taught at Lipscomb from 1982-1992.
“I’ve come back home,” she says of her return
Gonzalez, who says she’s “95 percent Hispanic,” knew that getting many of the Spanish-only speaking parents involved in PTA would be a challenge.
“I’ve had to teach them how to look for ways of making money,” she says. “For most of them, it’s a new country and a new system, so I’m teaching them how to navigate that system.”
She’s had a great ally in parent Teresa Martinez, whose two sons attend the school.
“I’m always up here,”
Together, Gonzalez and
“Pickles and popcorn,” Gonzalez says. She’s referring to the concession sales by PTA members, who come to the school every Friday afternoon and peddle exactly that. In addition, the PTA also organizes a Cinco de Mayo carnival and has held other small fund-raisers throughout the year.
They started less than a year ago with $400. Now, with matching donations of $6,000 each from Swiss Avenue Historic District and East Dallas Exchange Club, who both saw in Lipscomb’s drive a great opportunity to help, they’re three-quarters of the way to their $24,000 goal.
“It’s nickel and diming,” Gonzalez says of the parents’ drive to come up with the full amount. “But they have been very faithful, let me tell you.”
“The majority of parents are not bilingual,” she says. “So it’s hard for them to get around. But as far as them helping around the school and helping to get money for the playground, they’re here. They’re real good parents.”
The PTA’s goal is to install the new playground equipment by May.
