CHICAGO — A fourth-grade scholar from Ray Elementary School stepped at the outfield grass, drawing near a ball sitting on a tee. She assumed her stance within the batter’s box and listened to the guidelines from her teacher.
The bat head collided with the ball, sending it sailing right into a blue exercise net just a few toes away. The teacher provided phrases of encouragement at the same time as placing the next ball on the tee. The fourth-grader prepared to take her next swing.
What seemed impossible simply months ago turned into finally going on: Baseball become being taught on the ball subject at Ray Elementary. And this couldn’t have taken place without a hand from Major League Baseball and Scotts.
Situated subsequent to Ray Elementary, Bixler Park is some of the maximum popular spots in Hyde Park, one of the most racially diverse neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago. Bixler Park no longer best boasts playgrounds — one for younger children and one for older youngsters — however, it’s far a place wherein the whole network comes collectively on nights and weekends.
For years, the baseball discipline at Bixler Park turned into a difficulty. It fell into disrepair and have become a patch of weeds in an in any other case beautiful vicinity of the community. More importantly, the country of the baseball subject became depriving the kids of Ray Elementary of an important, formative years experience. But getting the field returned to playing shape wasn’t something Ray Elementary should accomplish on its own. To get the children of Ray Elementary what they wanted, this assignment turned into going to require a number of help.
Anne Renna, Vice President of the Friends of Ray School PTO Board, had dreamed of improving the ball area at Ray Elementary for years. Renna, who has 6th grader and a fourth-grader at Ray, knew the amount of labor involved would require out of doors assist, and started applying for presents to get the field back into playing shape.
Renna had initially sent a grant application to Chicago Cubs charities, however, Ray Elementary didn’t meet the standards for that particular furnish. Her quest for a new baseball field got a second lifestyle when another member of the PTO despatched Renna a link to Major League Baseball’s Scotts Field Refurbishment Program. I decided on, Ray Elementary might acquire $50,000 toward solving its subject.
This possibility seemed promising. The software is “committed to enhancing fields of play and encouraging adolescents and groups to get outside and revel in sports, like baseball and softball,” in keeping with MLB. Ray Elementary become a perfect match.
But getting decided on for the program wasn’t going to be smooth. MLB received round 350 submissions from roughly 45 states. Of that 350, handiest 4 would make the reduce.
Melanie LeGrande, Vice President of Social Responsibility for Major League Baseball, become accountable for analyzing all 350 provide programs that came in. Since the begin of this system 4 years in the past, MLB and Scotts have placed over $2 million really worth of presents into the refurbishment.
For LeGrande, the component that stood out approximately this precise utility changed into how a great deal the new ball subject could affect the community in Hyde Park.
“I suppose the No. 1 thing about this winner and this refurbishment is that it’s specific due to that network sense,” LeGrande advised Yahoo Sports. “The truth that we can convey space on the way to motivate the community to get the kids accessible, no longer simply from the school but from the encompassing community is essential to us.”
That changed into enough to move Ray Elementary forward inside the manner, however, there was nonetheless paintings to be executed. A “blue-ribbon panel” could whittle down the very last dozen applications to just 4 schools, in keeping with LeGrande.
