Brick by brick
Westmere Elementary builds beautiful courtyard


GUILDERLAND — "I found your brick! I found your brick!" shouted eight-year-old Cheyenne Rusinovich as she jumped up and down, her blond hair flying.
Her cousins, Andy and Rose Leicht, rushed over to see. Sure enough, engraved on one of the bricks in the new Westmere courtyard patio, are the words, "The Leicht Family."

The Leichts’ was one of many engraved pavers that together raised $7,000 for the $34,000 project.

Thursday, students and their families gathered with staff to dedicate the new courtyard.
"This is such a special day for us here at Westmere," said Principal Deborah Drumm.
Drumm referred to a favorite quotation of anthropologist Margaret Mead that she has in her office: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Drumm commended the group at Westmere that had the vision to transform a space with worn asphalt into a vibrant and beautiful courtyard.

Jill Bierman, president of the Westmere PTA, said the project had been in the works for more than a year-and-a-half. She praised Gary Rexford whose masonry company built the patio.
Rexford "worked far beyond the scope of his contract," she said, often in "awful heat."
"He cared about it as much as we did," said Bierman.

She also thanked her husband, Andrew, for cutting over 1,000 bricks to fit. Bierman explained that, to shave costs, she had used two vendors and four-by-eight for one was not the same as four-by-eight for the other. So her husband shaved off the difference, a thousand times over.
"It’s not only a beautiful space," Bierman concluded, "but a space the faculty and students can use."

Drumm pointed out to The Enterprise some of those many uses. A door from the school’s library opens to a walkway that leads to a maple tree in the center of the courtyard. The tree is surrounded by a "reading wall," she said, where students can sit to enjoy their books.

The kindergarten rooms open onto another part of the courtyard, across a mulched area from the maple tree, where three patio tables with benches are set up, each centered with a generous umbrella.
"It’s a nice, tranquil place in the school," said Drumm.

She said there were more plans for the courtyard, including a fountain, which had to be scaled back, but may be carried out later if more funds are raised.

Rexford, whose wife, Germaine, works at the school as a teaching assistant, smiled as he watched the crowd admire his work.
"I’m absolutely happy," he said.