Field

Field of Dreams

Therapeutic, Recreational, Accessible, Education (& fun) for All Children

Field of Possibilities

Tanger Fields

Text Box: December 2005. Rotarians ask Tanger Staff to make a wish list of items that they need. Rotarians instructed the staff to “Think Big.” This “wish list” contained all the items that Tanger Staff was needed and would benefit the children at Tanger School. December 2005: Plymouth Rotary A.M. allocated $1000 to Tanger Center staff, to pay a stipend to Carey Baker, Landscape Architect, to create a Master Plan for an outdoor therapeutic playground. (Carey is a partner at Beckett & Raeder, , 535 West William St., Suite 101, Ann Arbor, MI 48103, 734.663.2622.) Other Therapeutic Playground Carey Baker has designed: Ford/UAW Childcare and Learning Centers, 13 Facilities University of Michigan Flint Campus, Early Childhood Development Center Wayne Westland Community Schools, Roosevelt McGrath Center Special Needs Area South Lyon Comm. Schools, Kent Lake Elementary School Since January 2006: Tanger Staff, Carey Baker, architect, Rotarians, and representatives from Plymouth-Canton Schools have met to develop the design for the outdoor space at Tanger. The entire staff at Tanger Center, teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, lent their expertise to every element of the design. Dr. James Ryan, superintendent, and Tom Sklut, development director, have been also been part of project discussions. Tom Sklut, acted as liaison to Dr. Ryan Additional Uses: Carey Baker designed a space that would not only serve Tanger students, but Tanger families, senior citizens. The Playground & Park will be available for use by the community-at-large during non-school hours. December 2006: A draft of the playground design has been approved by Tanger Staff. Architect, Carey Baker provided a final draft of the plan. Plans include details of how the playground can be built in phases, to accommodate fundraising

Tanger Fields:

Therapeutic, Educational, Accessible,

Recreational Fun for All Children

Phase 1—Completed . 2005-06

Text Box: December 2006: Carey Baker completed the plans for Tanger Fields. The plans were shared with Rotary Club of Plymouth A.M. The plans were also shared with Dr. James Ryan, Plymouth-Canton School’s Superintendent. School board trustees individually met with Rotarians, toured Tanger School and were given a overview of the project, which included a Q & A of Board Members’ concerns and questions. January 2007. A formal presentation of the plans was made to the Plymouth-Canton School Board, at a School Board meeting. The board approved the project.

Text Box: January 2007. Rotary Club of Plymouth A.M. Foundation accepts tax-deductible donations for Tanger School.

Text Box: Tanger Fields Project Timeline

Phase 2—Completed . 2006-07

Phase 3—Completed . 2007

Text Box: September—November 2007. Rotarians met with civil engineers, in order to create a site plan which will specify costs and the phases of the project.

Text Box: Fall 2008: 1st piece of Equipment will be placed at Tanger School— Ribbon Cutting for the Project—TBA May 9, 2009: Train Installed June 3, 2009: Train dedicated at Tanger School Family Picnic August 25, 2009: The Plymouth—Canton School Board and Administration agree to lease an area behind Central Middle School to house the Miracle League Baseball field

Phase 4—Completed . 2007

Phase 6 . Fall 2008 / Spring 2009

Text Box: Fair isn’t giving every child the same thing. Fair is giving every child what they need.

Text Box: So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. Christopher Reeve

“You don’t ever have to do anything sensational for people to love you. When I say, “It’s you I like,” I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch … that deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive: love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.

So in all that you do in all of your life, I wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best of whoever you are.”

Mr. Rogers, Dartmouth College Commencement Speech 2002

When one tugs at a single thing in nature,

he finds it attached to the rest of the world.

John Muir

"El que lee much y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho."

Roughly translated it means:

"He who walks far and reads a lot, sees much and knows many things."

Miguel de Cervantes,

in the introduction to Don Quixote