With great expectation, the students and staff eagerly awaited the moment when the Villa’s elevator modernization would be completed. All the mechanical elements were replaced along with updated safety features. The cab itself remained the same. After eleven long weeks, that day finally happened on Thursday, February 23rd. The kindergarten class asked Ms. Kris and Sr. Alice if they could watch the inspector test the elevator that afternoon. They watched wide eyed as the “elevator man” wheeled five 500lb weights onto the elevator. The inspector sent the elevator up to the third floor and back down successfully! The children were relieved it passed inspection so the elevator would be open for use again!
After nap time that same day, the whole school was invited to gather in the playroom for a ribbon cutting ceremony! After a count to three, Sr. Alice cut the wide ribbon and seconds later the elevator doors opened and one of the men from Midwest Elevator stepped out of the elevator. The children cheered and clapped! Ms. Kris invited a kindergarten boy and his mother to be the first ones to ride the elevator. This boy had been so enthralled for eleven weeks with the materials, parts and the tools the “elevator men” would use that each morning he would go over to the yellow barriers and check in with the workers.
The students and staff celebrated and danced to the “Party in the Elevator” song the Kindergarten class had used last year to create a video for the Fund-A-Need at our annual auction. We are so very grateful for the generous donations made that evening, and through other fundraising events that helped pay for this major expense!