Student project leads to Breckenridge park additions

Four Breckenridge High School Students will present their community project with the Texas Midwest Community Network for judges next week in Abilene. 

Breckenridge High School Principal Bryan Dieterich chose students Elyssa Glick, Mackenzie Harris, Braxton Post and Diana Patterson to represent their school in a community improvement competition with other school districts.

“My favorite part of this project was giving back to the community that has done so much to help us accomplish this,” Patterson said. “They never even second-guessed it. They were just willing to help us get it done because of the fact that we are doing something so great.”

The four students were assigned to complete a community project at a location of their choice. A location that would greatly benefit the community. They chose the Breckenridge City Park and planned their project in four phases: renew flower beds and general cleanup, repaint the basketball courts and post a sign with court rules and line the trail with historical way markers and light posts. With a plan in place, funding the project became the team’s primary concern.

“It was pretty challenging being high school students trying to take on things like electrical work, and a project that almost seems entirely too big for high school students, so to convince our community to buy into that was a challenge,” Patterson said.

The TMCN allows each group of students from every school two sponsors. Lisa Echols and Brian Valenzuela helped the team successfully complete all phases, as well as contributions from others citizens.

“When we first started getting sponsors, our Ag teacher Mrs. Shortes really kicked it off for us. She’s helped us throughout the entire thing,” said Patterson.

Patterson said that Breckenridge High School Agriculture Instructor Jessie Shortes and her husband helped sponsor one of the way markers for the park through Shortes Cattle Company. Other sponsors for way markers include Roy Russell, First National Bank, Paul Prater and David Wimberley.

This team will be presenting its project and its progress to The Rotary Club on Friday, allowing them to practice and improve before their final demonstration in Abilene next week.

“We are working to get everything together because we had a late start compared to other schools due to changes in our project,” Glick said. “We’re some of the busiest kids in the school, so it’s almost impossible to find time when we can all meet together. We knew it would be an issue from the beginning.”