Lake district selling bricks from ruined school

6/18/2010

Although the June 5 tornado tore Lake High School to pieces, district officials now want those pieces to help rebuild the school.

The district is selling bricks from the destroyed high school for a suggested donation of $10 each. The money will go to the "Rebuild Lake Schools" fund, which has been set up to help cover any uninsured costs for rebuilding the high school and repairing the Middle and Elementary schools.

The sale began Thursday and continues Friday in the Lake Elementary School playground between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

As of late Thursday afternoon, organizers had sold 200 bricks and 500 Lake High School T-shirts, also at $10 each.

"We're intending to generate some funds and also help people in their healing process by letting them have a piece of their history," Elementary School principal Christie McPherson said.

The idea for the sale came after several people - many of them Lake High School alumni - sent e-mails to district Superintendent Jim Witt asking for a piece of the high school as a keepsake.

Ms. McPherson expected many people to buy the bricks because about 15 cars had pulled up Wednesday looking for the sale, which had not started yet.

There's no chance the district will run out of the bricks though, Ms. McPherson assured.

"We have lots of bricks," the principal said. "There's plenty of bricks there in a pile."

Marietta Thomas, who works at the high school and volunteered to sell the bricks Thursday, was pleased with the turnout.

"I've worked here 28 years, so this is my second home. I hope it will help pay for some of the refurbishing and what we need. And there is going to be a great need," she said.

Debbie Jovanovic attended the sale with her daughter, Danielle, who will be a senior at Lake in the fall.

Danielle said she planned to engrave her name onto her brick.

Contact Claudia Boyd-Barrett at:

cbarrett@theblade.com

or 419-724-6272.