Family holding out hope for turf field project at Easton High

EASTON — The prospects of an artificial turf field at Easton High School are uncertain as the school year approaches.

Jen Hawley’s 18-year-old daughter, Elgin, has been a champion of the turf field. Elgin asked for it to be added to the school district’s budget request last year as part of her wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Jen Hawley hoped to see the project take shape before Elgin left for college this summer. She asked Make-A-Wish to maintain its commitment to the project until July 31 before the nonprofit needed to begin working on a new wish for Elgin.

Talbot County Public Schools received $1.5 million from the county meant to allocate towards outstanding capital projects this fiscal year, such as the turf field, which has an estimated price of $1.8 million.

At the end of July, Hawley said she was told the Board of Education is passing on partnering with Make-A-Wish for the turf field project.

“We’re right back to where we started,” Hawley said.

In mid-August of 2021, on the third day of field hockey tryouts, Elgin had an aneurysm on the field. It took almost two weeks after she collapsed before she began talking again, and it wasn’t until February 2022 that she returned to school.

Elgin, who graduated this spring, hasn’t been able to play field hockey since the aneurysm. When Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic granted her one wish, she asked for a turf field to be put in at Easton High.

With support from Make-A-Wish and a group of supporters known as “Elgin’s Army,” the turf field was requested at a board meeting in July 2023 and later added to the budget by the board in December 2023.

At a Board of Education work session in June, President Emily Jackson said while she’s a “vocal proponent” of the turf field project, she wasn’t committed to allocating funds towards it this fiscal cycle.

“I am not necessarily saying, no, never let’s not do it,” Jackson said. “But I’m saying that I think there are a lot of questions to be asked. Is turf the best option? Should we be going with really high-quality grass instead? What is going to cause the least number of injuries?”

The board has not made an official decision allocating the $1.5 million. Capital projects that are vying for the funding, such as new auditorium lights at Easton High and a playground replacement at St. Michaels Elementary, total to around $3.3 million.

Hawley believes if the district had acted sooner and actively partnered with Make-A-Wish, the $1.8 million estimate for the turf field could have been significantly lowered by donations, as well as a potential contribution from a turf field supplier.

“Having Make-A-Wish on our team … we could’ve gotten the field for much less,” Hawley said.

County Council Member Dave Stepp has been a proponent of the efforts of Elgin’s Army and a potential turf field installation during the past year.

“Just from the overwhelming support of coaches and players who have shown up to express interest in how great that would be for our local athletes, I think that speaks for itself,” Stepp said.

“I do know that they do have funds in reserve that they can make up the difference between the $1.5 (million) that we had given this fiscal year and the cost of the actual estimate,” Stepp said regarding the Board of Education. “So they can do that at any time they’re ready to do so, and I’m optimistic that they will, and I hope so personally sooner than later.”

Lesli Creedon, president and CEO of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, said the organization is fully committed to providing Elgin another wish. Creedon said the average wish granted by Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic is around $10,000, and that the foundation was prepared to contribute around that mark toward a turf field installation.

“While I am disappointed that the BOE passed in the partnership with Make-A-Wish and do think (it’s) shortsighted, I am hopeful that the county and its citizens will do more to support its young athletes and instill pride in our public schools,” Elgin Hawley said in an emailed statement to The Star Democrat. “And whatever they decide they continue to think of me and my story to move the field forward as a priority.”