PTO Today

Hi,
I am in Massachusetts and we had our playground done last year. It is done by the Verizon Pioneers I guess they are the retirees that do this. They are wonderful. They will assit you but they like you to have some school volunteers to help out as well.We had the Map and got the solar system last year. They are quite generous. I am not sure how to contact them maybe try and google or check out Verizon web site. Good Luck!

Jurijeka--see if your local boy scouts can help you out or make it a project by your students that are leaving this year. It could be a way of them showing their thanks for years of great teachers, experiences and memories!

__________________
Making a positive difference one project at a time

Yup, Verizon Pioneers is who I am in contact with. Learning a bit about this group, they consist of retired phone company employees and are nation wide. They will definitely want four or five volunteers for a few hours. For those in Massachusetts, let me give you this...

I've set up for my contact to come to the school this Friday. She had requested media coverage, and as it turned out the local Cardi's furniture store donated a living room set earlier in the year. The Verizon Pioneers had a 10' x 8' carpet of the U.S., with capitals, etc. She is bringing this to the school for the living room area in the Library. Since we already set up for media coverage of Pete, Nick and Rob from Cardi's it just made sense to combo this. They're coming in to read to the students, so it will be a big thing. So, best recommendation is to try searching for The Verizon Pioneers as they should have a local chapter near you. For those in Massachusetts if you would like my contact directly please e-mail me. Not only will she be able to provide the map stencil for the playground, but likely a gifted carpet as well.

Regards,
PresidentJim

Here's the VerizonPioneers website and my Massachusetts contact:

[url]www.verizonwjdenverpioneers.org[/url]

Diane Rodger, [email]rodgerdl@verizon.net[/email]

Good luck,
PresidentJim

i want more info on verizon and stencil... how do i get this info please
sheryl, worcester. mass

Sheryl,

Try the link I provided for the Verizon Pionners. The link is:

[url]www.verizonwjdenverpioneers.org[/url]

Also, since you are from Massachusetts, you can talk with Diane Rodger about a US Map Rug. I set up for our Library to receive one just a couple of weeks ago and it is perfect. It is a 10' x 8' rug with the US Map and has the state capitals around the rug border. It's very colorful and can be used for so many different learning games. I would act fast on this as I know that she only has one left, so likely first come first serve.

Good luck,
PresidentJim

We ordered the stencils from Peaceful Playground. They were easy to understand and good quality. Our problem was choice of paint. I dont' know what the phys ed teacher bought, but within a very short while, the paint started flaking off the asphalt. In fact, the committee hadn't even finished painting the whole stencil before the dry paint started to peel off. It might very well have to do with the type of surface on our asphalt, but it was such a mess the committee just stopped working. So now we have a partial USA map, much of which is flaking off. I dont' think it's the fault of the stencil company at all - they just provide the stencils. I guess we used the wrong kind of paint for our particular application. Be sure to ask specific questions and get your paint from a knowledgeable paint supplier. I don't think you'll have problems on a more porous surface like concrete or raw asphalt, but our surface had been sealed within the past year, and the paint we used just didnt' adhere to the sealer. Ugh.

stencil company in Old Saybrook CT that manufactures playground stencils.

[url=http://www.stencilease.com/playgroundstencils.htm]Playground stencils - Stencilease.com[/url]

I just did this a couple of weeks ago using a non-profit organization, made up of active and retired phone company personnel. This groups is called the VerizonPioneers. One of their "things" is painting the US map, and also the solar system, on school playgrounds.

It was great. Once we had the new asphalt put in we set this up. She came down on a Sunday and we had about 15 volunteers.

She had a plastic sheet with 2" diameter holes. Once in position we went around and spray painted the dots. We then used rollers and the supplied paint to connect the dots. Then we went about following a special grid card to color in the states. Lastly water was painted around the coasts.

The group even supplies a games booklet that can be used by the staff to help with instruction.

Google them, VerizonPioneers, and select the local group. Contact them and see what they can do.

Good luck,
PresidentJim

The thicker material worked the best for us. A hopscotch stencil and a state map stencil from stencilease.com added a nice touch.