43
YOUNGSTOWN CITY SCHOOLS IN PRAISE OF PUPILS
Photo
TOGETHER TIME: (Left to right) Bailey Williamson, 9, of Youngstown, and Brooke Smith, 10, of Youngstown, play in the Paul C. Bunn Elementary’s new “Butterfly Courtyard” Sunday afternoon before a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new school.
Photo
SHOWING SUPPORT: An interpreter, (left), signs to the crowd as Paul C. Bunn Principal Maria Pappas, (right), gives her speech during Sunday afternoon’s ribbon cutting for the new elementary school. Pappas discussed a push to increase public support for a school levy that will appear on the ballot in November.
By ELISE FRANCO
The superintendent said the new school gives the city district more stability.
A ribbon cutting in front of Paul C. Bunn Elementary on Sunday afternoon declared the school officially open.
Pappas said the $9.5 million school is the perfect venue to accomplish her vision.
“My vision is to create a school full of joyful, successful readers, writers and thinkers,” she said during the ceremony.
The school is located in Boardman Township, at the intersection of Sheridan Road and Sequoya Drive, but is still part of the Youngstown City School District.
It’s a part of a $192 million, 14-building school district rebuilding program, and opened just in time for pupils to return to class.
“Nothing in my 29 years as an educator can match what I felt on the first day of school just three weeks ago,” Pappas said.
She said she had tears in her eyes as she greeted pupils at the door and saw how excited they were.
“Boys and girls, this was all done for you,” Pappas said.
Superintendent Wendy Webb said the completion of another new school brings needed stability to the district.
“We’re sitting on a very exciting moment today,” she said. “Now it’s up to us to reinvent this district and become strong again.”
Webb said what Paul C. Bunn and every other school in Youngstown need is a group of people who want to put the district back on the map.
“It’s easy to bash us, and it’s easy to criticize us,” she said. “Until you come in here you don’t know the facts about what Youngstown schools are all about.”
Webb said educational improvements from pupils are already apparent.
This year Martin Luther King Elementary, among others, was “a fraction away” from meeting the Ohio Department of Education’s effective rating.
“[Paul C. Bunn] will be effective in the next couple of years,” Webb said. “I promise you that.”
Shelley Murray, school board president, echoed Webb’s statement with a quote from author of the Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling: “Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.”
After the ribbon cutting, two guided tours showed parents, children, staff and community members around the new building.
Carole McConnell, whose three grandchildren attend Youngstown city schools, said she was more than impressed with the outcome.
“I love the graphics. It’s very well planned and laid out ... and I am extremely impressed with the garden,” she said. “The building is absolutely beautiful.”