The staff book exchange program has been a favorite for some time now.  PTSA seeds the books by collecting donations, and teachers add to it with some of their own books.  It's a nice little lending library that they enjoy.

But there was a problem -- too many books and not enough organized space to keep them.  Books were spread out in piles down the center of the lunch tables, some piled up off to the sides of the room.  Building services wasn't real happy about it -- too hard to clean, they said -- and made their concerns known to Mrs. Higdon.  The next round of book donations was just around the corner for the November Staff Appreciation event, but the fate of the program was hanging in the balance unless something could be done about the storage problem.

PTSA kicked it into gear and contacted Gerstel Used Furniture in Gaithersburg (located behind Bed, Bath & Beyond), explained the situation, and owner Len Gerstel was happy to help us out.  He donated a nice, six-foot tall bookcase to the school.  PTSA picked it up from Gerstel's, cleaned it (it was really dusty and dirty), and delivered it to school just three days before the Staff Appreciation event.  Problem solved in the nick of time.  And the book exchange lives happily ever after.  The End.

A big thank you goes out to our PTSA delegate Beth Kennington for spearheading the effort to get the new traffic calming devices approved and installed at the crosswalk on Main Street at Bright Meadow.  Beth initiated discussions with the City last winter after the PTSA and parents raised concerns about traffic problems during arrival and dismissal times. 

Beth and I, along with LPMS administrators and the Lakelands HOA president, met with City officials including Ollie Mumpower (Engineering Services Director), Greg Ossont (Director of the Planning and Code Administration at the time), and three members of the Gaithersburg Police Department.  We met on several occasions, took tours of the grounds, and got feedback from officers on the effectiveness of various traffic calming options.  Mr. Mumpower and Mr. Ossont brought excellent ideas to the table and offered up some very creative solutions to us. The device we all agreed upon, shown above, is called a "Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon" which allows pedestrians to activate a flashing crosswalk signal prior to entering the intersection.

This was truly a team effort put forth to solve a vexing safety problem affecting our students while still enabling residents near the school to navigate smoothly through the neighborhood during off-peak hours.  The PTSA wishes to thank Mr. Mumpower, Mr. Ossont, and the Gaithersburg PD for their willing cooperation and professionalism.

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