American Academy extreme makeover
American Academy’s newly-remodeled teachers lounge.
Article by Kathy Dunker with photo courtesy of Trish Cummings
Recently, American Academy (AA) teachers arrived at school to find a teacher’s lounge makeover.
Thanks to donations of furniture, paint and time from two Colorado companies, the coordination efforts of AA parents Erin Seabold and Sally Wagner, as well as some generous funding from the AA’s PTO, American Academy teachers now have a nice, grown up space to retreat to inside the building.
The new AA school building, which opened Fall 2009, was the staff’s first experience at having any kind of private space. The previous temporary building in Lone Tree had no room for such a luxury.
However, the school’s budget didn’t cover furniture in the new lounge, so staff dug in and made do with a donated sawed-off conference room table and secondhand plastic chairs. No one complained, but as AA’s Head of School, Erin Kane explained, “It was functional, but certainly didn’t say much about how much we value teachers’ hard work and respect their need for a grown up, getaway space.”
The staff was excited to see the new look of the lounge, which includes a new couch, lounge chairs, eating tables and chairs from EON Office, as well as fresh blue walls courtesy of Five Star Painting. The PTO purchased new cabinets for the lounge plus a new coffee machine and coffee supplies, and two donated refrigerators now make the storage of bag lunches and frozen meals convenient for the entire 75 person staff. Plans are in the works for additional donated cabinets so that teachers and staff will have more space for dishes, supplies and snacks.
Rick Watt of Five Star Painting says, “I like nothing more than giving back to my community, especially when it involves education. In this challenging economy, schools are faced with severe budget cuts, which are extremely stressful for teachers who are working harder than ever to give each child the education he or she deserves. I welcome the opportunity to donate my services and am honored to contribute to a nice, relaxing lounge for [American Academy’s] teachers and staff.”
AA is proud to finally offer their teachers and staff a pleasant space to relax in during their much needed downtime.
