HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 668 Offered January 10, 2007 Prefiled January 9, 2007 Commending the Sully Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization. ---------- Patron-- Rust ----------

WHEREAS, the Sully Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization (Sully PTO) is recognized for bringing the community together to plan and construct Discovery Park in 2006; and

WHEREAS, Discovery Park officially opened to students and the Loudoun County community on October 29, 2006; and

WHEREAS, the 11,000-square-foot Discovery Park is located behind Sully Elementary School in Sterling, Virginia, and was specifically designed to be built as a community project by Leathers & Associates, a playground construction company based in Ithaca, New York; and

WHEREAS, Valerie Petrey and Peter Kronenberg, who are parents and dedicated former presidents of the Sully PTO, were instrumental in raising the necessary funding and seeing the exciting playground project through to completion; and

WHEREAS, the community construction concept of Discovery Park, reminiscent of a barn raising, was chosen over the building of a traditional playground, because the innovative method generated tremendous interest, created a partnership with residents and businesses, provided the benefits of lower maintenance and greater safety, and offered a unique play and learning experience for youngsters; and

WHEREAS, through a year of hard work and determination, the Sully PTO parents garnered numerous donations from enthusiastic community partners, as well as a very generous $20,000 grant from the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation and an equally beneficent $120,000 grant from the Loudoun Economic Development Foundation; all of the necessary equipment, labor, and food for the week of construction were donated by local businesses and volunteers; and

WHEREAS, the super-playground provides the popular slide, monkey bars, and swings, but also entertains and teaches by way of a replica of Mount Vernon, "whisper dishes" that convey how sound travels, a rock wall studded with the planets, and many other unusual and interactive exhibits; and

WHEREAS, a water wall donated by the Loudoun County Sanitation Authority demonstrates the water cycle of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, made fun by buttons that create real mist; and

WHEREAS, the Sully PTO and its special partners can be very proud of the wonderful playground it has given the children of the community and the students of Sully Elementary School; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend the Sully Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization for bringing the community together to plan and construct Discovery Park in 2006; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Valerie Petrey and Peter Kronenberg as an expression of the General Assembly’s gratitude for the Sully PTO's commitment to the young people of Loudoun County and the Commonwealth.