Students at the Otter Creek School were guests of honor at Friday's groundbreaking for their new school building in Brentwood.

Big names, little shovelers take part in celebration
By CHELSEA BLACKBURN
Brentwood Home Page intern
Hard hats were the uniform de rigueur Friday when Otter Creek Church of Christ broke ground on a new addition.

Campaign chair Kelly Beaman draws laughs from Congressman Marsha Blackburn and Brentwood Mayor Betsy Crossley (seated).

A large group of church, school and local officials helped break the ground of Otter Creek Church of Christ's new addition.

The three-story building will add approximately 34,800 square feet to the church's property. The first floor of 13,500 square feet will be classrooms to be shared by the church and Otter Creek School, a kindergarten and preschool that is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

The event drew a crowd, among them Congressman Marsha Blackburn, Brentwood Mayor Betsy Crossley, Campaign Chairperson Kelley Beaman, and state Representatives Charles Sargent and Glen Casada. The real guests of honor, however, were the students, teachers, and staff of the school, which is directed by Pat Ward.

The preschool, which currently serves 160 students with 20 staff members, was founded in 1960 by Ruth Rucker. Since Otter Creek Church of Christ moved to its present Franklin Road location, the preschool remained at the old church building in Forrest Hills.

The new space will allow the church and school to again operate in one location.

The fundraising campaign, entitled Light the Path, called upon families and alumni to raise money, but the effort has been two-fold, Ward explained.

"It has been a joint drive between the school and church," Ward said.  The church created a capital campaign called Blueprint to raise money for the additional space that the church will occupy, which is the second and third floors of the addition. It will also help cover the cost of additional parking lots to be added.

"Our new space will be primarily classrooms and meeting space," said Doug Sanders, associate minister.  The 21,000 additional square feet will help meet the growing needs of the 1,400-member congregation that Otter Creek Church of Christ serves. Josh Graves, preaching minister, shared that over the next two years the youth group at Otter Creek is set to increase by 40 percent.

"Otter Creek was started in 1929, and our passion for children has continually shaped our growth," Graves said. The additional space will also help serve Brentwood as Otter Creek serves as a meeting place for various community organizations, including Alcoholic Anonymous.

"We're really excited that we're able to move forward," said Graves. "We're committed to use the new facilities for the Brentwood community."
Both the school and the church hope to be in the new space by the start of the new school year in August 2011.

Photos courtesy of Ginger Dawson