News
BHS receives community grant
Scott Wagar and Lowe's Pulbication Office
02/28/2012
Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to Bottineau Public School for the Bottineau Baseball Boosters.
SkillsUSA Construction Technology students at Bottineau High School will be constructing a concession stand for the Bottineau Baseball Boosters at the baseball-softball field located at Tommy Turtle Park. The 400-square foot facility will have a concession counter and storage space to store field maintenance equipment. The new facility will also have a covered patio and be handicap accessible.
“The grant in Bottineau represents Lowe’s commitment to career and technical education,” said Marshall Croom, chairman of the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “By supporting schools like Bottineau High School, we believe we are contributing to a cause that’s important to our customers and employees by helping provide improved learning environments and build stronger communities.”
ABOUT SKILLSUSA
SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. SkillsUSA helps high school and college students enrolled in career and technical education programs to excel by teaching employability and service occupation skills. The association’s annual membership exceeds 305,000 students and instructors in more than 3,700 schools and colleges in every state, three territories and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.
ABOUT LOWE’S
Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. The company’s signature education grant program, Lowe’s Toolbox for Education, has donated nearly $5 million in grants to K-12 public schools every year since its inception in 2006. Lowe’s Heroes employ volunteer support for local community projects and their national nonprofit partners such as Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross. In 2010, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together contributed more than $30 million to support communities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. To learn more, visit Lowes.com/SocialResponsibility.
BHS’s BUILDING TRADES
For Rod Schmidt and his students, their involvement with the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation started last summer when Brain Jensen, a member of the Bottineau Baseball Booster Club’s concession stand committee, contacted Schmidt inquiring if he and his building trades students would be interested in constructing a concession stand for the baseball and softball diamonds at Tommy Turtle Park.
“I agreed to do it,” Schmidt said. “In October, Clarke Molter of Career and Technical Education in Bismarck let me know about the Lowe’s community improvement and community renovation grants; and, by golly we received it for community involvement.”
Schmidt said that he is pleased to receive the grant.
“We are really excited because it is going to cover about a third of the cost to construct the concession stand,” Schmidt said. “And, I’m also excited for the students because this is going to be a huge community service project for them. I told the guys we are going to have a lot of community service logged into this project, and the kind of community service which is the good kind.”
Schmidt added that one of his aspirations this school year is to educate his students in giving back to the community.
“My goal was to make the guys be more community service minded, to have the guys help those who have helped them, to give back to the community,” Schmidt said. “And, community service was my primary reason for taking on this project, because giving to others is so important within society and I want my students to know that.”
Up to this point, the baseball boosters have used a variety of methods in providing concessions, some of which include selling their products out of the back of a station wagon and using an ice fishing house. With the concession stand being constructed this spring by BHS’s building trade students, the baseball booster club will have a building that is up to food service code to serve its patrons.
The completion date for the concession stand is June 1 of this year.
“That works out great because it will be completed by the time the baseball and softball season starts this summer,” Schmidt said.
Bottineau High School was the only school in North Dakota to be a recipient of the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation grant.
“I am very honored by this,” Schmidt said. “It’s a great feeling in knowing that out of all the schools in North Dakota, Lowe’s picked us. We are all pretty touched by that.”
On April 2, Schmidt will be holding a special ceremony at Tommy Turtle Park from 1-3 p.m. to kick-off the construction project of the new concession stand for Bottineau Baseball Boosters. A representative from Lowe’s, along with a number of local dignitaries, will be at the ceremony to celebrate with BHS building trades students as they begin lifting the walls of the concession stand. The general public is welcome to attend the ceremony.