District and McNicholas Family Foundation celebrate transformed ball fields at Hidden Oaks and Martin County High

District leaders and community partners presented videos and remarks showing completed and ongoing renovations to baseball and softball fields at Hidden Oaks Middle School and Martin County High School.

Deputy Superintendent Tracy Miller introduced a video tour of the Hidden Oaks ball field complex and described the project as a community partnership. Miller thanked the McNicholas Family Foundation and multiple local partners for funding and labor that transformed a previously unusable site into a “state of the art” complex for students and community teams.

Tom McNicholas of the McNicholas Family Foundation and partners thanked district staff and named partners who contributed materials and labor, including Star Farms (which donated turf), Ken Backs and The Ranch (which provided sand), the McPhee family (irrigation work), Perfect Pitch and local contractors. McNicholas said matching contributions and partner donations produced a field he estimated to be worth more than a quarter million dollars.

Presenters also described complementary upgrades at Martin County High School, noting an irrigation system installation and hybrid turf being laid from local producers. Tracy Miller said the projects will support school teams and community clubs such as Florida Baseball Club and Perfect Pitch; partners noted youth participation is growing—from one team to seven in recent months—and projected large participant numbers over the next five years.

No board action was required; the board and superintendent accepted the recognition and took a group photo with the partners.