Playground Makeover

Members of the Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity brought out their paint brushes, rakes, and shovels Thursday evening to clean up the playground at the Child Development Research Center at Texas Tech.

Members of the fraternity helped level out sand in the sandbox, rake leaves around the swings and slides, and repair wood chips in the playhouse.

Vance Thompson, a senior chemistry major and the fraternity’s chapter president, said members of Alpha Phi Omega built and donated a playhouse to the CDRC in 1989.

“They’ve helped us for a number of years and they actually were the originals that built the big play house by the sandbox.” said Cindy Bruington, associate director of the CDRC.

Thompson said his fraternity focuses on three key principles: leadership, friendship and service. They work closely with Boys and Girls Scouts of America, the Boys and Girls Club, and also reach out to anybody and everybody in the community to lend their helping hands, he said.

“We love that sense of fulfillment that we get from helping out the community because it’s not always just about our grades or our social life, ” said Thompson. “It’s nice to take a break form the monotony that happens with college life, and so it’s nice to give back to the community when you can.”

Kelsey James, a sophomore pre-nursing major, said being a part of Alpha Phi Omega gives her the opportunity to meet new friends and do community service at the same time.

“I’ve always been a community service person,” said James. “Being able to do this and having so many awesome people to do it with, that’s why I’m here. That’s why I stay.”

The CDRC playground is located behind the Human Sciences building, next to Doak Hall. Bruington said the CDRC serves as a lab school for students who are studying early childhood education and are given the opportunity to work with the children under the supervision of teachers.

“We are licensed for 150 children and we have usually about 110,” said Bruington. “We have six different classrooms with children ranging from 6 weeks to about 5 years of age.”

Bruington said the CDRC is a working daycare but has about a two-year waiting list for parents who wish to register their children there.

“It’s a long waiting list,” said Bruington. “Moms usually as soon as they find out they’re pregnant, get on the list.”