St. John Neumann Regional School in Palmerton has a new gymnasium floor with the help of many donations, grants and diocesan assistance.

Last week, Sister Virginia Stephanie, the principal, spoke to the Palmerton Chamber of Commerce about the new gymnasium."I always love to talk about the school, so it was no chore," she said.Stephanie said the fourth-grade through eighth-grade gymnasium floor hasn't been done for at least 20 years. Some people told her it hadn't been replaced for 30 years, but that seems like an awfully long time to her."Each year, we try to get something done in one of the buildings," Stephanie said. Children in grades kindergarten through third attend school in a building next to Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Slatington."Because of the Bishop's Appeal, I was able to get the bathrooms done in our campus in Slatington and the floors here," Stephanie said.Funding for the gymnasium floor replacement was also made possible through the state program Educational Improvement Tax Credit, and donations from the Catholic Youth Organization and parishioners at Sacred Heart, Assumption, and St. Nicholas churches in Walnutport."It's just a dramatic difference," Stephanie said.R and S Hardwood Flooring Co. in Walnutport did the work. They started the work in mid-July, took the floor down to the bare wood and completed the job in two weeks, she said. The company is owned by the Kulp family, and two of the children are students at the school."It was a complete effort of a lot of people that believe in what we do," Stephanie said.Jendy Sell, whose son Aiden attends the school said, "The floor looks brilliant."Stephanie said she was surprised to see some of the seventh-graders sweeping the floor and helping to clean up without being asked. Some will go around and try to rub off scuff marks with their shoes."They're very, very protective of the new floor," she said."We're proud of the school and being a part of the school family," Sell said.