Franklin School has been around a long time. I showed up in September 1955 for my first year of SCHOOL (I could hardly wait), and my father had walked into the same school in 1927. And here we are 80 years after that. Franklin is still doing what it did for my Dad and I, but some of the people who live nearby and whose six or seven or eight or nine...year olds go off five days a week to Franklin Elementary think it could be doing a lot more for the kids and for the whole community that surrounds the school. So much so, that they developed a plan and held workshops and announced that they intended to raise $1.5 million to revitalize the playground of Franklin School and thereby re-connect it with the community. It's a grand plan, a bold one, by people who are both dreamers and doers. This is a grand dream, but it's more than a dream. This month, a community newspaper did a cover story of the group's efforts.
Over the next few months the pieces will be put in place to redevelop the school grounds of Franklin School as a 21st century community park--open to all, every day--a crossroads where old friends meet and where new friends are made, connections that hold a community together. I'm privileged to play a small part in spreading the word of this demonstration of community pride in a place I once called home. I'll keep you posted.
