When the bell rings at 2:30 p.m. at Chandler Magnet School, students and families gather in the playground to play, talk and build community.
Families can be seen playing soccer, having birthday parties and sharing picnics.
However, last year the school only had one picnic table. That left students and parents sitting on the ground or steps, according to PTO Co-President Sandra Lozko.
When the school merged with La Familia over the summer, three of La Familia’s picnic tables were brought to Chandler Magnet, but Lozko said that still wasn’t enough.
On Monday, members of Carpenters Union Local 336 volunteered their time to change that.
Fred Taylor, local 336 business representative and president of the Worcester chapter of the NAACP, told the Worcester Guardian Monday that Councilor at-Large Khrystian King reached out to him and asked if union members would volunteer to build the school some additional picnic tables.
King’s daughter started attending Chandler Magnet last school year and he said he was inspired to get the project started by the great sense of community at the school.
He said he wanted to make sure families had the opportunity to come together, especially with the merger of the two dual language program schools.
The merger was prompted by the Diocese of Worcester’s decision to terminate Worcester Public Schools’ lease early for the building that housed La Familia, 355 Grafton St. The diocese never commented on why it terminated the district’s lease two years into its five-year lease, but the district and diocese had a public disagreement over sexual health education being taught on diocese property in the months leading up to the decision.
Eight union members worked to construct three octagonal tables Monday, using any excess wood to construct two to three standard picnic tables.
Kathryn Krock, a local developer and businesswoman, donated the funds for the tables.
“(The project) means our community is invested in our kids and families,” Susana Resendes, the principal of Chandler Magnet, said.
The additional picnic tables will make the school even more open and welcoming, according to Resendes.
Resendes became the principal of the newly-merged school this school year and said it’s nice with the change in leadership to be able to bond over something as simple as picnic tables.
The merger of the schools has come with some different obstacles, Resendes said, but it has been clear from the beginning that families from both schools have the same goal: providing a robust education for the students.
Resendes compared the merger to a marriage, in that it has its ups and downs, but that she’s collaborating with faculty and staff, families and members of the community to make sure the students are getting what they need.
Taylor said he loved coming out Monday and being able to put on his tool belt and help people, since as a business representative for the union he doesn’t get to wear his tool belt that often.
“The main thing union’s work to do is make society better,” Taylor said, and giving back to the community aligns with that.
In addition to building the tables at Chandler Magnet, the union has built picnic tables at Coes Pond, dugouts for local little league fields and raised beds for community gardens, according to the union’s chair of the volunteer organizing committee Chris Katz.
The union works on one to two volunteer projects a month, Katz explained.
Katz has been the chair of the volunteer organizing committee for ten years and said he really likes giving back to the community.
Lozko, the PTO co-president, called the project wonderful and said she’s excited for the students to see the finished product.
“I love that it’s Worcester people helping Worcester kids,” Lozko said.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford and Antigua and Barbuda. She’s been published in Bloomberg, USAToday, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org.
