August 26, 2009
| Contact: |
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Shannon Parthemer, Community Relations & Communications Coordinator |
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(425) 702-3300
sparthemer@lwsd.org |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Redmond, Wash. – How can you make poetry come alive for elementary students? That’s a challenge architect Dennis Erwood and his team from Studio Meng Strazzara took on while simultaneously creating an elementary school that meets all the Lake Washington School District educational specifications.
When students walk into the lobby and commons area, they will look up to see 99 brightly-colored aluminum butterflies hanging from the ceiling, with others perched throughout the school in honor of Frost’s first published poem, “My Butterfly.” They will also see an excerpt from one of Frost’s last poems, “Pod of the Milkweed” cast in bronze on the floor of the lobby. Artists Judith and Daniel Caldwell have put countless hours into creating the on-site artwork.
In eight different locations both inside and outside of the school, excerpts from Frost’s poems are sandblasted into large stones. A grove of birch trees near the building’s main entry honors the poem, “Birches.” Three other poems: “Mending Wall,” “Hyla Brook” and “The Road Not Taken” are also reflected in different ways throughout the site.
In addition to all of these pieces, principal Sue Anne Sullivan contacted Charles Dent, trustee of the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, N.H., who donated a number of branches from the farm’s last remaining sugar maple tree. These trees were the inspiration for the poem “Tree at My Window.” Local woodworkers Bryan Northrop and Patrick Kenney are using the branches to make a bench, donating their time to the project. A bust of Robert Frost from the old Frost Elementary School will also be moved to the new location and will sit on a wood base that will also be made from the donated maple wood.
Frost Elementary is part of Phase 2 of the district’s overall modernization program. Voters approved $436 million in bonds in 2006 to pay for the program. The new facility was built on the same property as the old school, just behind it. Planning and design began in the spring of 2006 and ground was broken in June 2008.
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About Lake Washington: Lake Washington School District is a high-performing public school district serving Kirkland, Redmond and Sammamish, Washington. It is the sixth largest district in the state of Washington, with over 23,000 students in 50 schools.