Lessons in sand

It's hard to imagine that a little sand could be so important, but according to preschool teacher April Misegadis, a sandbox can be the key to preparing Sidney children for successful lives.

"We build the future engineers in there," Misegadis said.

Sidney Community Preschool moved to its new location at Central Elementary School in May. The facility did not have a sandbox.

To the rescue, those in the Cabela's Emerging Leaders program, who resolved to help with the move—and to fix the problem of the missing sandbox.

The school changed locations because it was outgrowing its old structure due to population increases. The Cabela's group brought two trailers and two pick up trucks to help move furniture and supplies from the Here We Grow Center to Central Elementary School.

Cabela's employees spoke with businesses both local and otherwise to acquire material donations for the school. The school received donations of backpacks, beverage bottles, school supplies, lumber for a storage shed and for the sandbox as well as the sand itself.

The Sidney Community Preschool was founded during the days of No Child Left Behind, which required that any school with a special needs program also have a preschool. The school currently serves 20 children and Misegadis said that Sidney Public Schools plans to house the preschool in the new elementary if it is built.

Although the school is open to everyone, it specifically strives to serve children with special needs, those in low income families and kids who speak English as a second language.

"We want all different kinds of children," Misegadis said.

This preschool runs all day, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is a structured environment with reading and nap times.

"At that time in development, they're ready for a little structure and need stimulation," Misegadis said.

The school also introduces children to diversity and helps them understand and deal with emotions. It gives the kids a jump start before going to kindergarten.

Misegadis stressed the importance of having a sand box and her thankfulness to the Cabela's group for building it. The students must to learn to share when playing in the sand and to work together to build rivers, moats and sandcastles.

"This is amazing," Misegadis said. "What happens in the sand pile is social interaction."

The kids find out what shapes can fit into each other and how to build different structures. Discovering and learning about new rocks is another benefit of playing in the sand.

Similarly, the Emerging Leaders class had to learn to work together to acquire donations for the school and to physically build the box.

Community service is a requirement of the Cabela's program. Particpants were given a list of ideas from around the community and in the end, decided to help the preschool.

The program, which has members from West Virginia and Kansas as well as the Sidney area, is designed to make those enlisted in it into leaders instead of just managers.

"Cabela's identified individuals in the company they view as high performance to improve their leadership skills," said Lori Roelle, planning and inventory manager at Cabela's and participant in the Emerging Leaders class.

Josh Thomas of West Virgina said the most important thing he learned during the course was time management, but said he enjoyed working on the sandbox.

"Absolutely, I had fun," Thomas said.

This program had its first meeting in March and met two times a month until June. Those participating in the program come from the corporate office, call centers or retail stores all over the country.

They were given a list of possible community service projects and ultimately chose to help the school with its move.

"We just felt it would be nice to be able to help them," Roelle said.

The group then took their service up a notch and decided to build the sandbox as well.

A community service portion of the class was important to observe how employees from various backgrounds and positions work and interact with one another.

The group was given 30 days to do the project and ended up exceeding its goal.

"It was neat to see how individuals and businesses stepped up to donate," Roelle said.

The goal was to make sure the school had supplies to keep it running smoothly.

Roelle complimented the group's dedication to the project who graduated from the class Thursday but came together to build the sandbox on Wednesday.

"They came out a day early to make sure they could help, in the rain," Roelle said.

She was surprised at how many donations the group received, even from businesses who didn't have any ties to Sidney.

The Sidney Community Preschool program has been around for 10 years and Misegadis has worked for the school for eight years.

Misegadis has the assistance of two paid parents so the student to teacher ratio is seven to one. All of the curriculum is based on standards from the state department of education. Misegadis was very thankful for the Cabela's group's dedication to acquiring play equipment and supplies for the school and for their contribution of a sandbox.