North Syracuse Early Education Program PTO Presents Generous Donation for Playground Shade Project

Pictured (left to right) in front of the NSEEP playground: School Principal Dawn Hussein, PTO Secretary Brittany Carlson, PTO President Brittany Knight, NSEEP Staff Cheri Rotelli, PTO Treasurer Sean Goodwin, PTO Co-Vice-President Stacey Tracy and PTO Co-Vice-President Corie Portzline with her daughter Lorelei Portzline (now a student at Smith Road Elementary School) and twin daughters Lola and Lilou, who are students at the NSEEP.

Last summer, the North Syracuse Early Education Program launched its re-envisioned and renovated playground serving the school’s 240 students, as well as the larger community in Onondaga County. This inclusive, fully accessible playground was carefully designed around the needs of children with a myriad of developmental disabilities and those of typically developing children. The school’s students have spent many happy hours at the playground during the school day and many children and their families have enjoyed it at other times, as it is open to the public after school hours. Recently, the school began a fundraising campaign to add shade structures to the beautiful 'still new' playground. On Friday, April 22, Cheri Rotelli, who is in charge of the fundraising campaign, had an unexpected but wonderful surprise as the school’s PTO presented her with a $15,000 check toward the shade project. With the PTO’s generous donation, the campaign has reached 80% of its fundraising goal. Cheri also wants to thank the Friends of NSEEP for all the support they've provided to the campaign. Rotelli said, "The Friends group supports us and has provided all the envelopes, labels, money tracking, thank you notes and tax-deductible letters. Their contibutions have been tremendously helpful." A portion of the donation was made possible through the school’s Gertrude Hawk fundraisers and the PTO wants to thank all of the families who supported that campaign. The school continues to raise money through a GoFundMe page for the cause. If you've been considering making a donation, please click here to learn more about the project and link to the GoFundMe page.

 

Cheri Rotelli, a physical therapist with the North Syracuse Early Education Program, tracks the progress of the school’s Playground Shade Fundraising Campaign on a chart near the main entrance. With the generous donation from the PTO, the campaign has reached 80% of its goal. ­­