Sunset Elementary School gets gym upgrades

Sunset Elementary School students were treated to a surprise at last Friday afternoon's assembly recognizing replacement work done over the summer at the school in Airway Heights - a surprise that was doubly exciting for one fifth-grader.

Sunset Principal Ty McGregor told the students that the gym floor they were sitting on had been resurfaced over the summer. The $90,000 project, done by Northern Hardwoods, was one of several projects undertaken by the district's maintenance department.

But the upgrades didn't stop there, McGregor said. The school was also the recipient of six new basketball backboards, rims and nets this summer as well, thanks to a collaboration between the Airway Heights Parks and Recreation Department's nonprofit organization C.A.R.E.S and local business, DAA Auto Body Center.

Airway Heights Parks and Recreation Community Services Supervisor Andy Gardner told the students that the backboards and rims that were replaced were the same ones he had played on years ago as a Falcon student. Representatives of DAA, including Len Roll, West Plains and Spokane South Hill shop manager and Mitzi VanVoorhis, director of marketing, were on hand to present McGregor and the school with a plaque commemorating the work.

At the end of the assembly, Sunset fifth-grader Macen Johnson got the opportunity of a lifetime to challenge one of those representatives - director of strategic planning at McConkey Auction Group, DAA's parent company, David Pendergraft - to a game of one-on-one to break in one of the new plexi-glass backboards. For those who may have forgotten or did not know, the 6-foot-6-inch Pendergraft played guard for the Gonzaga Bulldogs from 2004 - 2008.

Gardner said after the assembly the timing of the new basketball hoops and refurbished gym floor this past summer was completely unrelated.

The gym is the only indoor facility of its kind in the city, and consequently is used not only by the students but also by the Parks and Recreation Department for its adult leagues.

Gardner said they had ideas for some kind of replacement, which he put at about $5,000 total, when DAA contacted them and said they wanted to help with something in the city. About the same time, Gardner said the department was approached by Spokane Hoopfest officials who wanted to donate new plexi-glass backboards and breakaway rims as well.

As a result, the outdoor courts at Sunset Park and Shorty Combs Park received not only new backboards and rims, but also court upgrades that included seal coatings and court restriping.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.