Hours of operation
The Parent Teacher Resource Center, 2535 Lakin Ave., is open Monday through Friday all year, including most “no-school days.” (It is closed on major holidays.) Park on Washington near 12th Street for easy access on the southwest corner of the former Washington School.
Hours are:
Monday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday: 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The workroom is available at no charge for USD 428-related projects. All others pay $5 per hour, but the materials may be purchased by anyone for the same price.
Nearly 20 years ago, Great Bend USD 428’s Steve Wolf visited Wichita and saw a resource center where teachers could find everything they needed to make posters and bulletin boards. That was the inspiration for Great Bend’s Parent Teacher Resource Center, which opened its doors in January 1997.
At the time, Wolf was director of the district’s migrant program, and he received a grant from the Migrant Education Program that was used to buy hundreds of patterns for die-cutting.
Today, USD 428’s PTRC is located on the southwest corner of the former Washington School, 2535 Lakin Ave.
The district has continued to add to the resources, said Rosalia Sandoval, PTRC director. The center has 1,345 die-cut patterns, including 17 different alphabets and an assortment of mascots, shapes and borders for creative projects.
Shapes can be cut in construction paper or “anything else you can cut with scissors,” said Marlene Martin, PTRC assistant. That includes fabric, foam, rubber, foil or thin magnets.
All sorts of construction paper, card stock, stickers, wiggle eyes and other craft necessities can be purchased by anyone. Members of clubs or businesses, vacation Bible school directors and anyone else are welcome to purchase the materials for personal projects. The price is the same for everyone, but there is a $5 an hour fee to use the workroom if it’s not at USD 428 project. They also have laminating machines, paper punches and binders.
The PTRC may not be unique, but it is uncommon. There are only four other school districts in Kansas with similar centers. “We have customers from out of state,” Sandoval said.
