Mary Buren Elementary School’s library has come a long way since the building first flooded during winter break of last year, explained Guadalupe Union School District Superintendent Ed Cora, but the school couldn’t have achieved all it has without some help.
The library was refurbished over the summer thanks to a donation from The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Target, when DeGeneres presented the school’s Principal Jesely Alvarez and teacher Ashley Thompson with a check for $100,000 on her show last May. Pleased with how the refurbishment went over the summer, Cora explained, the school board was discussing the idea of naming the revamped building after DeGeneres and her show.
“I started seeking permission from Ellen to use her name to rename the building. I was going back and forth with someone from her office, and all of the sudden they were asking me for pictures of the library and what we had done so far,” Cora said. “I was wondering why they wanted the pictures, all I wanted was permission to use Ellen’s name for the building and get it back to the board, but this went on for weeks, and I said, ‘It seems like you’re up to something,’ but there was no reply.”
Cora had to keep a secret for the better part of a month, he explained, when he was told at the beginning of November that The Ellen DeGeneres Show was planning a surprise remodel of the library with Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri of Kitchen Cousins on HGTV at the end of the month.
“I had to tell principal Alvarez that she had to close the library for a few days at the end of November, and she wanted to know why, but I just told her, ‘Don’t ask questions!'” Cora said.
Alvarez and Thompson were informed that the show would be arriving to film, but just for an update on how the library had changed since they received the money. It was during their interview with The Ellen DeGeneres Show that Carrino and Colaneri surprised the two with the news of the renovation.
Beginning on Monday, Nov. 30, explained Cora, and running until completion on Dec. 3, the cousins and their team worked diligently, adding multi-colored floor tiles, tables, a mural, and distinct areas serving different modes of learning.
“You know, it is so cool, and you can’t really appreciate it unless you knew what it was like before,” Cora said. “It went from totally outdated before the flood, to looking good after this summer, and now the word I use is phenomenal. It’s a phenomenal place not just for kids, but for the staff who work there and parents who will go there for meetings.”
The Ellen DeGeneres Show segment that ran Dec. 7 included a live broadcast, which began with a connection via Skype from the library’s new Global Learning Lab, which includes Skype for the Classroom, and connects teachers and students worldwide, explained correspondent for the show Jeannie Klisiewicz during the broadcast. Skype also donated a number of Microsoft Surface tablets to the library, as part of the learning center’s technology area.
Other creative aspects include the reading area, Cora said, which include two tiers of bleacher seating and a faux tree from a movie set. The changes elicited tears from Alvarez and Thompson when they were led through for the first time, and excitement and joy from the Mary Buren Elementary School students who got to see their new learning center.
At the very end of the segment, Alvarez and Thompson announced their surprise for DeGeneres, revealing a beautiful painted sign that read “The Ellen DeGeneres Show Learning Center.” Alvarez’s voice broke when reading the name on the sign, thanking DeGeneres and everyone involved for their generosity.
“You’ve done so much for our school, and there’s absolutely no way we could repay you, but a small token is we wanted to name our library after you,” Alvarez said on the broadcast, “because you’ve given us so much, and it makes such a difference for the larger school community.”
This article appears in Dec 10-17, 2015.
