Pam Kelly
On July 20, 2022, Englewood School lost beloved teacher Pam Kelly after a long battle with cancer. She was 48 years old.
Pam began teaching at Englewood in 2003 with numerous assignments before settling into teaching Grade 2. Pam was a welcoming presence to every person who walked through the doors of Englewood, greeting them with a big smile and her contagious laugh! She taught at Englewood for fifteen years, gaining the love, adoration and respect of her students, colleagues and the entire school community. Pam left behind a legacy of kindness, compassion, and generosity. She is survived by her loving husband Tyson and her beloved sons Bradley and Jake.
Pam's Wish
Pam’s wish was for her school to receive a playground for grades 4-6. Englewood has never had a play structure for this age group. Currently, grades 4-6 have their own swing set, a GagaBall pit and a tennis court area, but do not have a playground structure like the K-3 students do. Pam and her family decided her memorial donations would support her wish before her passing. The Englewood School community has decided to give Pam’s wish a name: “Pam’s Playground”.
Pam's Playground
Englewood is a small school with a BIG heart! In September 2022 we started talking about fundraising for Pam's Playground. We discovered that this meant that our Home & School Association and our Playground Fundraising Team would be one and the same. Our regular Home & School meetings (once a month) include updates on how fundraising is going. We decided that the Pam’s Playground project will involve the purchase and installation of a play structure for the Grades 4-6 playground, the addition of several inclusive and accessible pieces, as well as a makeover of the tennis court area.
The Goal
Our financial goal to accomplish these tasks is $165,000. We are aiming for a play structure installation in Spring 2024.
Current Status
Pam's family, friends, colleagues and her community generously donated upon her passing to the Playground Fund. When her high school class held a reunion they also took the chance to take a collection for the playground fund.
The Englewood community (Home & School Association, school staff, students and family volunteers) held several fundraisers in the fall of 2023, including a Halloween Spooktacular Community Carnival, a Coupon Book fundraiser, an ADL Cheese & Island Preserve Co jam fundraiser, an in-school Christmas Flea Market, and our school canteen donated the proceeds from selling treat bags & ice cream. At the end of December 2022 our total stood around $22,000.
Once the new year hit we realized that in order to accomplish a task as monumental as this we weren't going to be able to solely rely on small scale fundraising activities. We joined COSPEI Gold Rush, which is an online weekly draw with a $5 entry fee. Participants choose a school to donate a portion of their entry fee to (choose Englewood to support our project!). We love this fundraising option because it is raising money for us weekly without much effort on our part.
We also started approaching businesses (local and otherwise) for corporate sponsorships. We were thrilled when we received our first big donation from a local business - The Blue Goose got the ball rolling! Once people started hearing more about our project, we started receiving donations from individuals, small and bigger businesses, and with each one we feel more connected to our community! There have been many happy tears shed along the way as we realize just how far Pam's legacy (and the wonderful reputation of Englewood School) have reached.
We are in the process of applying for several grants and are continuing to canvas businesses for sponsorships. If you're interested please reach out to rachael.englewoodhomeandschool@gmail.com and we can send you our sponsorship letter. Tax receipts are available.
Status as of May 25th, 2023: $52,000