WDHS Athletic Dept. receives $2,500 grant

13 years ago

WDHS Athletic Dept. receives $2,500 grant

By Jon Gulliver

Staff Writer

    WASHBURN — The Washburn District High School Athletic Department has a new ice machine thanks to the initiative of a teacher and an insurance company sponsored grant.

Photo courtesy WDHS

    GRANT WINNERS — Students and officials at Washburn District High School recently celebrated a $2,500 grant being awarded to the Athletic Department for a new ice machine. sp-washburngrant-dcx-arsh-20  Pictured in front, from left: coaches Ben Goodwin and Tammy Tatlock. Back row: Amy Grosso, California Casualty; Chris Galgay, Maine Education Association president; April Flagg, teacher; Phyllis Patterson, teacher; and Ron Ericson, athletic director.

    April Flagg applied for a California Casualty Thomas R. Brown Athletics Grant and much to the delight of folks in the district was awarded $2,500 to replace an ice machine that broke early during the school year.

    Throughout the last few months, managers have hauled ice from the elementary school to the high school and stored it in bags in the freezer.

    The high school had a full assembly last week to watch as Flagg, one of the English teachers in the district, along with Amy Grosso, California Casualty, and Chris Galgay, Maine Education Association president, presented Ron Ericson, athletic director, the check for the brand new machine the students have lovingly named, “ice-ice baby.”

    “We are so excited,” said Flagg. “It was great for our students to be a part of the presentation. It is important to see that hard work pays off. I know the athletes, and especially the team managers, were very excited for this new ice machine.”

    Shrinking state education budgets, pressure on schools to focus efforts on academics, and diminishing funds for athletics inspired California Casualty President and CEO Beau Brown to establish the grant program in honor of his father  —  Chairman Tom Brown, a lifelong athlete and sportsman.