Burton shows of her Patriot pride
with the Park View players.
Credit: Sarah Baughman Photography
Park View is the only Title 1 high school in the
county (the wealthiest county in the United States),
meaning that the high school currently has a large
population of low-income students who need
supplemental funds to meet their educational goals.
The way that translates to the football team is that,
for example, the kids who want to play cannot
afford the required gear, insurance, or after-practice
transportation home. Or they have to go to part-
time jobs after school.
When Burton realized that the challenge of
providing after school activities was not from a lack
of interest, but financial wherewithal, she became
determined to help change things at the school.
Together with other alumni, she started a nonprofit
called Project Patriot (project-patriot.org), where
people can see what the school needs, what the
project is doing, and how they can contribute. “We
are saying, ‘How can we who have benefited from
growing up in this area give back to the community
and make sure kids at our alma mater are receiving
the same benefits we did?’”
The project has already seen much success. “People
started volunteering, and I just started plugging
them into spots where their expertise made sense.
Kathleen Ore Disanto is one of the few females who
was ever been a Park View Patriot football player.
She is now a lawyer and graciously did all of our
paperwork. Ashley Dawson Hoyt, a cheerleader
with me in the late ’90s, is our treasurer and
volunteered to help set up our bank accounts. Tony
Canonico, who was class of ’98, has a great wealth
of knowledge when it comes to sports and the local
sports community. He also has done production out
in Los Angeles and developed our website. What’s
been fun for me about making this happen is getting
in touch with our friends, old teachers, and old
administrators, and figuring it out.”
As for the kids, they seem just as determined. One
young woman particularly stuck out in Burton’s mind.
“I had met the young woman who was crowned
homecoming queen on my first trip to Park View. She
came right up to me and said, ‘This is what we need.
How can we make this work?’ She was very together,
and I was impressed with her.”
The fact that this enthusiasm and initiative occurs
amid a challenging environment with limited
resources enheartens Burton. “It’s great to see
these kids who may not have the fanciest cars. They
may not have the school with all the money, the
booster clubs, and the stadium that brings in tens
of thousands of dollars a weekend, but they are
working so hard. It’s an underdog story about kids
who don’t have it easy, so they have to fight ten
times harder. When they accomplish things, their
victory is so much sweeter.”
FLYWASHINGTON.COM 8 SPRING 2019