Peterson Dedicates Gym to Former Student

Miranda Family honored at assembly

Play with the heart of a five year old. These words will live on in the Peterson Elementary gym, remembering a kindergarten student who passed away in 2015.

On Jan. 9, Peterson Elementary remembered Louden Miranda by unveiling a plaque with the boy’s smiling face and the phrase reminding everyone to play with the heart of a child. The school held a special assembly to thank the Miranda family for an $8,000 donation which funded specialty flooring for the gym.

“A few years back when their son Louden was a Peterson kindergartener, this gym you are sitting was concrete. It was not safe,” Principal Travis Fast told the nearly 600 students at the assembly.

The school started fundraising for a safe gym floor around the time Louden passed away in January 2015. The Miranda family reached out to Peterson and offered to pay for the new floor.

“Today we’d like to take the extra moment to remember Louden, and think about playing with the heart of a five year old,” Fast told the students. “The Peterson community has the privilege to honor the Miranda family who are with us today. It is an honor to dedicate the Peterson gymnasium to Louden Miranda.”

Members of the Miranda family attended the assembly. Those included Louden’s parents, Cody and Megan, and his siblings, Cael and Tenley. Louden’s grandparents, David and Theresa, also attended, along with uncle Brandon Wood and cousins Tanner Wood, Nikki Golonka and Adysen McGirr.

As another way to remember Louden, teachers wore blue Peterson T-shirts with the number five on the back, or wore shirts from the Louden memorial wrestling tournament. The annual tournament will be held at Mazama High on Jan. 20.

The Miranda family is continuing its support of student athletics with a new scholarship program.

Each year the family will pay for one Peterson student to participate in an extracurricular sport. Students showing they are respectful, responsible, caring, kind and hard working will be nominated. Those nominated will write a letter to the Miranda family explaining how the scholarship will help their own family.

“These guys went through such a loss and they’re still giving back to the community,” Fast said. “We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.”

Press release and photography by Samanth Tipler, Klamath County School District.