Can-Do Club lobbies for park history lesson

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Friday, July 7, 2006 10:19 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- A committee of elementary school teachers will consider whether to include a lesson plan for third-graders on the history behind Ronald Reagan Sports Park thanks to the prodding of several community members who say the schoolwork would serve students well.

Perry Peters, president of the pro-Reagan Can-Do Club, and Adele Harrison, a founding member of the club and former teacher, have been urging Temecula Valley Unified School District officials to add the lesson, saying it would inspire students.

"Individual initiative is really what we are trying to promote," Peters said.

The park was built in the early 1980s by hundreds of residents, businesses and service organizations in the area. Part of the third-grade curriculum is to teach students about local history.

"They spend a lot of time on the Indians and other things, but this is something special for Temecula," said Harrison, who taught elementary school in the Temecula district for 16 years.

Peters said the lesson is a "matter of civic pride."

"The community ... was determined enough over a period of many years to volunteer their time, hold fundraisers, go pull weeds and plant trees and cajole company owners to lend them graders and seeders and whatever to finally come up with a place where they can have picnics and kids can play," Peters said. "Then to have a president of the United States pointedly mention them by name and laud them for their typical American spirit ---- that's a part of our history we can be proud of."

Reagan cited the local park and the efforts it took to build it in a speech he gave in March 1983, commending the Temecula community for its "can-do" spirit.

In 2004, the City Council voted unanimously to rename the 73-acre park at Margarita and Rancho Vista roads from Rancho California Sports Park to Ronald Reagan Sports Park.

"I know teachers (are busy)," Harrison said. "I am not asking for a lot, just one lesson."

At least one Temecula mother whose son is entering third grade thinks it's a good idea.

Heidi Refsdal, whose 7-year-old son Erik attends Rancho Elementary School, said she thinks the idea is wonderful, especially since her son and daughter, Elisabeth, 14, have played with sports teams in the park for many years.

"We have lived here for 14 years, and moved here after the park was built," she said. "I never knew all the facts on how it was built. ... I think it's important for students to learn our local history."

Regardless of the outcome of the committee's decision on whether to officially add the lesson, the Can-Do Club has organized an essay contest for third-graders, with a yet-to-be-determined cash prize for the entry that best demonstrates an understanding of the value of individual initiative.

The first contest is scheduled for the coming school year with the winner to be recognized at the March 2007 observance of the anniversary of Reagan's speech. For more information, visit www.ronaldreagansportspark.com.

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.