GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Ken-O-Sha Park Elementary School in Grand Rapids has been chosen from 21 elementary and middle schools throughout Kent County as the winner of the second annual Media Room Makeover Contest conducted by the Grand Rapids Griffins and Farm Bureau Insurance.

Representatives from the Griffins and Farm Bureau Insurance made site visits last week to Ken-O-Sha Park and two other finalist schools, Red Hawk Elementary in Cedar Springs and North Rockford Middle School, to help determine the winner of a media room makeover valued at $10,000-$15,000.

Located in a 52-year-old building in southeast Grand Rapids, Ken-O-Sha Park provides an inclusive environment for 165 students enrolled in preschool through fifth grade. The school also houses the Grand Rapids Oral Deaf Program and Physically Impaired Program. which provides special education services to children from other school districts within Kent County.

“Ken-O-Sha Park Elementary is extremely grateful for this media center makeover and being able to partner with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Farm Bureau insurance,” said principal Stephanie Villalta. “It is going to give our students a welcoming space to explore learning and deepen their love of literacy and reading! At Ken-O-Sha, we are creating opportunities for students to experience nature and the outdoors, and having an updated and current media center will allow students to connect those outdoor nature experiences to reading, writing and research projects through the use of multimedia.”

Over the next month, officials from Ken-O-Sha Park, the Griffins, Farm Bureau Insurance and project partners Mike Case of Case Construction and Open Systems Technology will collaborate on the scope, details and planning of the school’s media room makeover, which could consist of a variety of new resources such as computer hardware, software, books, furniture, paint, carpet, flooring and light construction. The Griffins and Farm Bureau Insurance, including dozens of employee volunteers, will assist school officials in the makeover of the school’s media room this summer, then host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the start of the new school year in September.

Each of the other two finalist schools will receive $250 toward upgrading the amenities of its current media room.

“Farm Bureau Insurance is dedicated to Michigan. It is our home; the place we raise our families and hold close, all the things we cherish. We want the best for all children and families in our state,” said Vic Verchereau, vice president of marketing at Farm Bureau Insurance. “One of the best ways to do good for Michigan is to invest in our youth. The staff and leadership at Ken-O-Shea Park Elementary are doing just that. Their passion for their students is exactly why we are so excited to help them make a difference at their school. This new library/media center will help them inspire young minds and we are looking forward to getting started.”

Through the inaugural Media Room Makeover Contest in 2015, the Grand Rapids Child Discovery Center was chosen to receive a new media room that its 260 students have been enjoying throughout the 2015-16 school year.

Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, in its second year as a Griffins corporate partner, was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why they are known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business, retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting nearly 500,000 Michigan policyholders.