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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shadle raises money brick by brick

The remodel of Shadle Park High School has presented parents of seniors at the school with a unique fundraising opportunity.

To raise funds for the 2008 Grad Night, organizers are selling 2,568 engraved bricks to be placed in the sidewalk between the new library of the school and the administration office.

For $50, former students, teachers or anyone with a fondness for the school can buy a brick for the Highlander Pride Alumni Courtyard before March 1.

Although the courtyard is named for alumni of the school, Tamie Spitzer, one of two committee leaders for the event, said that many people who are not alumni of the school can still get a brick engraved with a name. Sometimes parents or grandparents that didn’t attend the school still feel a connection to Shadle since they have spent so much time attending meetings and going to games to support the Highlanders.

“We would love that,” she said. “We encourage that.”

The bricks are 4 inches by 8 inches and there is room for engraving 18 characters a line for three lines on each brick.

Spitzer, who co-chairs the fundraising group with with her husband, Kyle, said about 300 orders for bricks have already been received.

Some of the orders are from teachers who have spent many years supporting Shadle, such as Evan Bell, whom Spitzer remembers as a teacher in the 1980s who led students in the “Chicka Lacka” cheer.

Another teacher with a brick is coach Lyle “Scrappy” Pugh, who was at the school from 1958 to 1988 and still attends Shadle functions. Today, he moves the first-down chains at football games.

Spitzer said there are groups of people ordering bricks, such as championship sports teams, entire classes, or groups of friends.

The bricks will be installed by Garco Construction, the company that will do the remodel, starting May 1.

Shadle Park High School has been under construction since last June. Part of the $165.3 million bond voters approved in 2003, the $70 million project will include a new library, gymnasium, renovated and enlarged classrooms, a new commons area and an updated safety and security system.

Spitzer said that the idea to sell alumni bricks came from an effort to tie the memories of the past to those to be made by students of the future. The group also heard about a similar project at Rogers High School.

The bricks will be engraved by Tresko Monument.

Spitzer has a long history with the school. She graduated in 1983 from the school and had three brothers and a sister graduate from there as well.

Of her three children, two of them attended and graduated from the North Side school, and her youngest, Jacob, is a senior this year.

Now that her own children have gone through the school, she plans to continue helping with the Shadle boosters and supporting her nieces and nephews attending the school.

Raising money for this year’s Grad Night has been especially challenging for the parents.

The alcohol-free event is designed to keep graduating seniors from drinking and driving. Usually the parents have the event at the school, but since the building is under construction the parents needed to find an outside location.

“We don’t want the students driving,” Spitzer said.

They were going to keep the location of the event a secret, since the plan is to bus the graduates to the party, but this year’s event will be held at Triple Play in Hayden.

Spitzer said that the parents wanted to make the evening special for the graduates, since there are no home games at the school during their senior year.

For now, the parents of Grad Night are trying to get the word out about the bricks. If all of them sell, they plan to use the funds not only for this year’s graduates, but will spread any extra funds out to other school activities.

Anyone interested in getting a brick engraved needs to fill out a form and send in a check. Order forms are available on the school’s website, at GSL games and in the high school office.

Spitzer added that the parents are still looking for volunteers for Grad Night, as well as donations of prizes.