WIN leaders at Dunbar Senior High School were frustrated because they felt the city cared enough to condemn the dilapidated and unsafe track at Dunbar but not enough to fix it. Leaders could not abide it any longer and began to organize, engaging more parents, students, and alumni around their vision. They fought for updated uniforms, equipment, weight room facilities, and emergency repairs to the locker rooms, as well as a renovated track and football field that would be a model for the nation.
Through months of organizing, engaging elected officials, and the then superintendent Dr. Janey, leaders won new facilities at Ballou, Dunbar, Coolidge, McKinley Tech, Roosevelt, and Wilson high schools, paving the way for upgrades at high schools, parks, and recreation centers a across the city. Although the field at Dunbar has been temporarily removed to allow for the construction of the new state of the art high school, the new athletic stadium will live up to the standard set by WIN campaign of the mid 2000’s.
The student leaders of the campaign have graduated and now Dunbar alumni but the legacy and high standards they set are still benefiting the generations behind them. Read about and see photos of the conditions, the leaders, the vision, the organizing, and the results in these Washington Post articles from September and October 2006:
On the Field, Dunbar Finds Victory; In the Locker Room, Rust and Neglect
Superintendent Agrees To Emergency Repairs Of Facilities at Dunbar
Athletics Find a Booster In Janey
One thought on “WIN leaders achieve high school athletic facilities rennovations”
Glad to see some beautiful facilities as a result of lots of work from many people. Was there budget included in these plans to purchase new football training equipment? (i.e.: round tackling dummy, defense drills equipment). Fortunately lots of the sports equipment used at the old facilities can be used at the new ones.