look for middle school

By AMY LANSDON

The word around Charles Henderson Middle School as of late has been renovate, and the Parent-Teacher Organization is working steadily to give the school a new look.

The next project on the agenda is the school’s cafeteria, which is in dire need of a paint job. To fund the project the PTO is holding a bazaar/bake and garage sale at 9 a.m. at the middle school Saturday.

"We need to raise the funds to remodel the CHMS cafeteria," said Jean Laliberte, publicity chairman for the CHMS PTO. "We invite everyone to come out and buy. But if they can’t come out we are also seeking donations. We’ll take anything clean and serviceable. We also want baked goods and crafts, which can be dropped off at the school by Friday afternoon."

This is the first time the PTO has held a bazaar/garage and bake sale, but it is hoping to raise the needed $1,000 to complete the project. If the funds can be raised, members of the PTO will repaint the cafeteria over the Christmas holidays. Any money that is left over will be used to purchase furniture for the school.

Laliberte said the PTO’s big project this year has been the beautification of the campus on the corner of Elm Street and Gibbs Street. The campus has undergone several remodeling projects so far, beginning with cleaning the grounds, cleaning the CHMS sign and planting flowers beds and trees.

"Once we got the exterior looking good we moved to the inside," said Laliberte.

In the spring the PTO worked to repaint the inside of the gymnasium, and then moved to the entrance of the school and remodeled the locker area.

"We created a new area for the lockers to make more room for the students," Laliberte said. "We also added new rubber mats at the front doors that have CHMS written on them."

Beside just renovations at the school, the PTO has also raised money to help the teachers and reward the students.

Each semester this year the PTO has been able make available $25 to each teacher for additional materials for their classrooms. And for students who enjoy reading and are a part of the Accelerated Reading Program, the PTO has offered an incentive program to reward the students for points they have earned. The top 50 readers will have the opportunity to go on a field trip to Birmingham funded by the PTO. The PTO has also provided funding for music for the CHMS band. The band has been selected to go to a big band program in December. Budget cuts had almost made the trip impossible, but the PTO stepped in and made the trip a reality.

The CHMS PTO has been very effective in raising money to help better the education of the students and want your help in their quest for renovating the school. If you have any items for the garage sale or wish to make or bake something for the bazaar or bake sale please call Lori Floyd, president of the PTO, at 566-7663 (day) or 566-0516 (night).