Thanks to the village it takes to raise and educate children at Stowers Elementary School in Lithia, the students have sunshades on their playground to protect them from the sun’s burning rays.
Through last year’s Cattle Drive, the name given to the school’s annual fundraiser, enough funds were raised to purchase and install two sunshades to over the school’s playground, for which a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on October 20 at the school in Lithia, located at 13915 Barrington Stowers Dr.
“We raised just under $62,000,” said Maggie Goldenberg, ways and means chair for the Stowers Parent Teacher Association (PTA), which, along with some funds from the PTA’s legacy fund, covered the cost and installation. “The playground was already there, but we needed shade from the sun,” said Goldenberg, noting as well the leadership of 2023-24 PTA President Jacky Seal. “It gets hot in Florida, and the kids were complaining that it would burn them when they touched the playground equipment. Also, skin cancer is on the rise, and these are little kids outside and being exposed to UV rays.”
Haley Topp, PTA coordinator for last year’s Cattle Drive, said she is thankful for the community’s concern and support.
“It obviously was important to everyone that our students be protected, and that the kids be in the shade for even the small amount of time they’re outside for recess,” Topp said.
After a three-week fundraising effort, PTA members and school officials hosted the celebratory Cattle Drive Fun Run, which celebrated the community-wide effort to support the playground shades. In assistance were Newsome High School cheerleaders and track team athletes. Any Stowers student who raised at least $250 got to throw a pie at the face of Stowers Principal Melanie Cochrane. According to Topp, 45-50 students had the honor, including the top 10 student fundraisers who got to take a party bus ride to lunch at the Texas Roadhouse in Riverview.
Another 117 students, for raising at least $150 each, got to eat pancakes with Cochrane and Assistant Principal Fasee Sollars. Overall, “we had more than 553 students who contributed to the Cattle Drive last year, and I believe that was out of roughly 850 to 900 students, which is a very large participation,” Topp said. Brag tags, sweat towels, water bottles and the family’s name on the school marquee were among the incentive prizes.
Participating also were area businesses, which according to Goldenberg included title sponsors Conde Dermatology, Next Wave Investors, High 5 Inc., TNT Termite & Pest Control, Canarie Clean Fragrance Co. and Kamish & Associates CPA Firm.
“It takes a community to come together to raise as much money and support as we did,” Topp said. “We couldn’t have done it without our businesses and our parents at Stowers.” Next up, Goldenberg said, is this year’s Cattle Drive, which aims “to raise $65,000 for a walking track and flexible seating for our school.”
