A New Chapter for Cedar Hill School Media Center

Doors officially opened on Thursday on a bright and updated media center at Cedar Hill Elementary School, thanks to the efforts of volunteers with the elementary school’s PTO.

The Cedar Hill Parent-Teacher Organization raised $120,000 to transform the 2,100-square-foot library through significant renovations to both décor and equipment. In addition, volunteers contributed numerous hours to help make the transition happen in a project on which planning started last year.

Much of the work was completed over this past summer, with a lot of elbow grease contributed by the parent volunteers.

Karen Richman, co-president of the PTO and one of the parents who initiated the project, said $30,000 had been raised through a previous benefit, $60,000 from a held in March and another $30,000 through donations that are acknowledged via a “giving tree” on the wall outside the library’s entrance.

The group did not receive a much-hoped-for grant, but they did receive $1,000 from the local Bonafides organization and $500 from the Bernards Township Municipal Alliance.

The project included replacing outdated desks, old carpeting and freestanding shelves that were too high for the younger students. Updated computer equipment was also updated.

Two large, colorful murals painted by art teacher Kimberly Ace now adorn the walls over the librarian’s office and the story area.

Parents Made Project Happen

“Without the parents’ involvement–between raising the money and supporting the fundraising and packing and unpacking the books–this would never have been accomplished,” Richman said.

Librarian Connie Rose, who is beginning her 21st year at the school for kindergarten through grade five, acknowledged the PTO’s efforts.

“This is all due to the PTO," Rose said. "They raised every penny of it and times are hard. Our parents are very generous,” she said.

Christina Ehret, who last year shared the PTO co-president title with Richman and was one of what Principal Joseph Mollica described as the “visionaries,” echoed the sentiment by saying, “You have a great idea and you don’t realize the domino effect. We had such dedicated people supporting us.”

Parent Lorraine Proukou, a former Cedar Hill teacher whose twins now attend the school, was one of the many volunteers who helped get the new facility into shape for Thursday’s opening.

“It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun,” she said. “When you’re contributing to the school your children attend, there’s nothing better to put your time into.”

Looking around at the shelves of books, she added, “The kids will feel like they’re among the books instead of being buried by them. I can’t wait to see the kids’ happy faces when they come in.”

In toasting the new library media center with apple cider, Mollica declared, “Here’s to a brighter future for the students of Cedar Hill as a result of the efforts of all the community of Cedar Hill. It’s a sign of what we can still do in this township when we stay united and committed to a project.”

Calling it “an effort in teamwork,” he applauded the many people involved in the project, including the “visionaries,” school and board officials, fundraisers, project designers and the workforce.

School board member Linda Wooldridge described the new center as “beautiful, cheerful and much roomier. When you see the new (as compared to what had been here), it is absolutely night and day.”

Stacey Mahdavian, a parent and PTO board member, recalled the “before” version of the room filled with books, a computer area and tables where children could gather for reading and stories as a very dark place with towering bookcases.

It had been decades since the library at the Cedar Hill Elementary School had been updated, and the school's PTO planned the ambitious project with the goal of making the center more modern and welcoming to children.

"This room probably hasn't changed in 40 years," Ehret said earlyt last spring during a tour of the old facility.

Mahdavian said of the volunteers, "They had a vision and they made it come true."

Parent volunteers and fundraisers made especially significant contributions at all six township schools last years. Among the other efforts: The Liberty Corner Elementary School PTO spent about $40,000 to install air conditioning in many sections of the old stone school, about 100 years old. Meanwhile, parents and other contributors throughout the township pledged more than $400,000 to maintain the district's full-day kindergarten program when it appeared that the day would be cut to less than half after a loss in state aid. Additional state aid given to school districts statewide this summer resulted in the Board of Education deciding that the township school district should again pick up the tab for this year's full-day kindergarten program.