At this morning’s LCS Board of Education Organizational Meeting, members of the Lapeer Optimists presented a check to Board President Summer Putnam in the amount of $45,000 to fund the construction of a fully-accessible playground at Turrill Elementary.

The vision for the playground was first presented to the Lapeer Optimists back in May. The goal of the project is to address the needs of many of our students in our special education program, including the Cognitively Impaired (CI) Program at Turrill.

“This is an exciting opportunity not only for Turrill students, but students across the District and the greater community,” said Jennifer Tindall, the District’s Director of Special Education. “We are proud of our team at Turrill for their efforts in design and selection of purposeful and accessible equipment to meet the needs of our students.”

LCS Superintendent Matt Wandrie commended the Optimists for their ongoing support of the students of the District.

“It’s another in a long line of generous donations to our District,” Wandrie said. “We’ve been a benefactor of their generosity for many years, and we could not be more appreciative … without their support, there are many great things that we could not offer our students.”

Since 1958 the Lapeer Optimist Club has been an incredible force for good in Lapeer. The Club was responible for the community tennis courts at the CFI Campus (formerly Lapeer West High school), the soccer fields at Lapeer High School and were a huge donor to the LCS Athletic Campus constructed in 2014. They have also been financial supporters of the District’s LINKS and STEM programs.

To learn more about the Optimists, visit their website.