Carmen’s New Truck Welcomes The New School Year
Aug 26, 2010 21:19 - 1 Comment
Posted by: Cindy Cotte Griffiths
Department: Business,News
Tags: business, by Cindy Cotte Griffiths, schools
Department: Business,News
Tags: business, by Cindy Cotte Griffiths, schools
Last night when my family went to Carmen’s Italian Ice for a lazy summer evening treat, the parking lot in Woodley Gardens was packed. We’d never seen it so full. Turns out, Carmen’s took delivery on their brand new truck and owner Jason Mandler was sharing his enthusiasm with the community by giving away free custard.
The Chevy truck was outfitted in England with many special features including these cones on the front which light up. The vehicle had finally made it through customs and passed the restaurant health inspection so everyone at Carmen’s felt like celebrating. We certainly appreciate Carmen’s ongoing generosity to the community.
Today the truck was put into service for the very first time at Ritchie Park Elementary’s Sneak Peek. Students turned out to meet their teachers, find their friends, and tour their classrooms, which now include five portables. Unfortunately, three of them were put on the only remaining blacktop for basketball and foursquare.
This didn’t stop the kids from enjoying giant blowup games, a moon bounce, Potomac Pizza and Carmen’s. Parents could buy newly-designed t-shirts, join the PTA, sign up for International Night, and donate to the school supply drive. Summer really will be over next week.
How have other schools welcomed the new year? What changes are you seeing at your schools?
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Great coverage of the PTA-sponsored Welcome Back Celebration at Ritchie Park Elementary School last week. We are glad to have given Carmen’s a chance to debut their new truck and thank them for their ongoing support for community organizations! A minor clarification — while there are five portable classrooms at Ritchie Park, only two are on the gym/playground blacktop. The three others are on the rear blacktop. Permitting snafus seem to have delayed the availability of these two new classrooms (and perhaps their placement) — but that is another topic altogether! Also, advocacy by PTA and parents in the community who were concerned about the availability of adequate outdoor playspace convinced MCPS to extend this gym blacktop and repaint our four square courts. This should happen later this fall. While portables solve the near-term “desks and chairs” issue for our growing school enrollment in Rockville (all four elementary schools in the RM cluster are overcapacity), the bigger issue — growth and the impact on schools and students remains.