The canopy and landscaping additions to the north entrance of S.E. Gross Middle School were completed last year. At least, so it seemed. However, in the background, more improvements were in the process of being planned.
According to Cathy Colgrass Edwards, Brookfield village trustee and graduate of the school’s class of 1960, it all began due to last year’s attempted renaming of Gross School. While that attempt failed, it also inspired a certain amount of pride among many former graduates.
Edwards had, for many years, been in touch with many of her fellow grads, and Tom Powers, a member of the District 95 school board’s buildings and grounds committee, knew this.
“He asked, since I had a lot of communication with the alumni of the class of 1960, would they be interested in donating towards a bench, or benches, to be set near the new north entrance, around the new landscaping, facing Broadway Avenue,” Edwards said. “I thought it was a good idea. There seemed to be a lot of interest in the idea, even from the alumni of other years, too.”
Thomas Hurlburt, superintendent of District 95, was in favor of the idea. So, in November and December 2008, they all began meeting to discuss and plan for it.
“What happened,” said Edwards, “was that there really seemed to be a groundswell, for doing some of the benches with plaques near the canopy area.”
Hurlburt was, even then, thinking further along, to a wider range of improvements in the interior courtyard area, with name bricks and plaques. It could become a place for students to congregate during lunch, with a new entrance created, from the multipurpose room. It could also act as a meeting place for all alumni and be used for after graduations and other events.
“This gives an opportunity for the students and the families who are proud of their educational experience in District 95 to celebrate that,” said Hurlburt. “One thought is that, if your child is graduating and there is a brick engraved with their name, you can take their picture there in their cap and gown on the brick pathway.
“It really sets up a nice, memorable opportunity for everybody, and it also instills a greater pride in the school, which also helps the students to have a more positive experience.”
“The courtyard plan is still in its rough stage,” said Edwards. “There are many ideas floating around.”
She added that “Steve Kovanic, owner of Provencal Builders, has experience with installing benches and even working with name bricks, that we hope to have lined around the grassy sections in front of the canopy. This part of the plan is pretty well thought out in our heads. We’re still in the talking stages, and even a few elements of this could be subject to change.”
Not being left out is the courtyard area at Brook Park School in LaGrange, which serves grades K through five in District 95. It, too, is expected to have improvements of the same kind as at Gross.
Alumni of the class of 1960 will have their chance to honor their old school by donating towards the purchasing and placing of the benches, while other alumni are invited to contribute to the courtyard refurbishment. Edwards may be contacted for more information at 387-0437.
According to Hurlburt, “Both the middle school’s canopy benches and courtyard are planned to be completed before this year’s graduation ceremonies take place.”