CONNORVILLE -- Updates will get underway this summer for the Kara Bright Court project at Buckeye Local High School.
The facility will receive a fresh coat of paint, a new basketball court and a mural by the Barn Artist at a cost of $80,000. Funding support comes from the Kara Bright Foundation and the BLHS PRIDE campaign and the site will be renamed in honor of the longtime teacher and coach who also founded the Brightway Center in Smithfield.
Discussions began this fall following a chance meeting between former teacher Jodee Verhovec and foundation Treasurer George Spack. BLHS Principal Lucas arsons and Spack initially met along with BLJHS Principal Jason Kovalski and school counselors Jami Cammer and Krista Kinyo and the group had discussed scholarships, but Parsons also presented three proposals for possible projects. That led to a third session in October between Parsons, Spack, foundation President Daryle Griffiths and board member John Swires and the dream for a new basketball court was soon being realized. The improvements will be done by Karras Painting LLC of Wheeling and The Ohio Floor Company of Shreve with work occurring throughout the summer.
"It should begin around June 5, the week after we get out of school," Parsons said. "Karras Painting will begin their work to sandblast and prep to paint the gym, then the Barn Artist's mural will follow. In mid-July, they should start refinishing the gym floor by stripping and repairing it, then re-staining and adding the designs and wax coating. It should all be done in August."
Parsons said renaming the gym in honor of Bright was only fitting since he has contributed so much to local youth.
Bright, a 1945 graduate of Smithfield High School, taught and coached within the Smithfield-Dillonvale school systems in the 1980s and 90s as well as Virginia and North Carolina. He also founded the Ohio Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was the Ohio Sports World director for Sports World Ministry, plus he converted his 180-acre farm into the Brightway Center Christian retreat and activity site in 1997 for youth and families. It provided positive character-building programs for youth and continued to operate and support projects for 25 years. Bright passed away in 2005, but the center and the Brightway Foundation carried on his wishes to support teens. However, circumstances led the board to sell the property in 2021 and proceeds will be used to finance the court project. The center was dissolved and the Kara Bright Foundation was later established to continue its namesake's mission.
"We're very thankful for the funding donated through the Kara Bright Foundation, and we're thankful they wanted to give back to the school he loved," Parsons said. "We look forward to a new sense of pride for the next school year."
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held to unveil the facility.