I was at Dunwoody High School on Tuesday Night at 8 pm to pick up my 7th grader who had football practice with the Dunwoody Junior Wildcats and whom do I see working long after the Varsity team had gone home but Head Football Coach Mike Nash; there he was organizing a shed now being used by more sports teams than ever anticipated. We chatted for awhile about football but the conversation quickly turned to school system and the dire needs of the Dunwoody High School Sports facilities due to overcrowding.
He explained that Dunwoody High is bursting from the seams with more and more students and though new trailers are being brought in and someday class rooms might be built, the sports fields and facilities are not expanding therefore all programs are suffering. My friend and neighbor Carol Gaultney submitted a letter to The Crier this week that is worth reading and I fully agree that the goal of having a lit multi-use field at Dunwoody High School is now a necessity for the students to maximize field use therefore the ask is for all Dunwoody area residents to assist in funding this amenity if you are able.
Kristin & I made our donation and I hope you would join us. Thanks.
August 5, 2018
I write this on Back-to-School eve for DeKalb County students.
Dunwoody High School needs the help of our community. Last week I saw a Facebook post and was reminded again today in the PTSO email of the need to better DHS’ multi-use sports (track & field, football, girls & boys lacrosse, boys & girls soccer and marching band) field. If you haven’t seen the recent improvements behind the school, you should take a look. The track looks great and beautiful bleachers have been added. Through successful fundraising of hundreds of thousand dollars through DHS’ Game On campaign, these additions and more were paid for by Dunwoody families and very generous contributors. The improvements are exciting to say the least in a school system that doesn’t fund the improvement of sports fields.
The ultimate plan for the multi-use field calls for the installation of neighborhood friendly LED lights. With the addition of the lights, extra practice time can accommodate: DHS sports practice space without requiring teams to find other practice sites off campus; some home JV football, soccer and lacrosse games can be held at the typical early evening time and not called for darkness or moved to the very large and expensive North DeKalb Stadium. Dunwoody High School will become one of the few –if not only- public high school in DeKalb that has their very own lighted field!
An existing quote for the expense of lighting the field expires at the beginning of September. Currently funds have been raised for all but 25% of the lighting expense equaling $80,000. The timing is not great to ask for money, we all know that back-to-school means all sorts of surprise expenses for families, but I would like to call on the citizens of our great little city to help. If we all give a little, we can collectively raise a lot!
The lighting project potentially benefits every child in the city of Dunwoody. At some point in their life whether they attend Dunwoody High School or not, they could find themselves at an activity on the field. It could be as a DHS fan or athlete playing one of the sports mentioned before, a sports camp, rec team practice, marching band event, or as a fan /member of an opposing team. With lighting, possibilities are open to approved community events when the field is not in use.
According to Wikipedia there are 6000 family dwellings in Dunwoody. If even half of those families were to give a minimum of $30 to the lighting fund, the goal of $80,000 would be easily obtained. If you live in Dunwoody, you have a stake in the high school community; the more desirable our high school is the higher property values will climb!
- If you are a Dunwoody HS family, please eek $30 out of your budget over the next month and give to this need.
- If you have pre-school to middle age students that will attend DHS one day, please, invest in the future of the DHS by giving $30.
- If your child attends private school, if you are an empty nester, or don’t have children please don’t pass on this opportunity to boost your local high school and make it shine…the small investment of $30 could help grow your neighborhood property values.
Thanks much for taking time to listen,
Carol Gaultney
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