Washington High School staff hold picnic to connect with families

CEDAR RAPIDS - Teachers and school administrators are reaching out to youth and their families.

Tuesday night Washington High School administrators and teachers held a picnic at Redmond Park in the Wellington Heights neighborhood.

That's near where police say a 14-year-old boy shot and killed 15-year-old Aaron Richardson earlier this month.

Teachers rounded up donations and even pitched in some of their own money to hold this picnic and get out in the community.

'We were kind of talking about it and we just said ‘Well, why not?' said Washington High School teacher Zarmun Duke. 'How hard can it be to find some hot dogs and popcorn and just go talk to people?”

Duke and others have been on a mission since the beginning of the school year.

They were determined to hold a picnic to connect with people in the heart of the Washington attendance area - in Redmond Park.

'Some parents had a difficult time in school, so coming into a school building is not the thing they want to do. So if they don't want to come to us. Why can't we go to them? They are not intimidated because we are on their turf,” said Washington High School teacher Sarah Swayze.

People stopping by and current students shared in the fun.

”I think it's actually pretty fun. Just to see them smile brings a smile to myself also,” said Washington High School student Carrington Moore.

Principal Dr. Ralph Plagman said connecting with families can help create successful futures for students. He said a recent shooting near the park didn't pause picnic plans.

Organizers started planning the event weeks before that incident.

'That perhaps made us think that it was even more important that we be out in the community connecting as best we can,” Washington High School Principal Dr. Ralph Plagman said.

Even though teachers said some were hesitant at first, organizers opted to move forward to share a message that they care.

'It's a good reminder that the closer we can draw the ties between our families and our students and our faculty and our staff at our school, that's the best chance we have of preventing young people from getting involved in very negative situations and very dangerous situations,” Dr. Ralph Plagman said.

'When we look at the people that we struggle to make connections with this is where they are at. So we wanted to come to where the people are at,” Duke said.

Teachers said this was the first WHS picnic in the park. They plan to make it an annual event.

l Comments: 319-398-8268; jill.kasparie@kcrg.com