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Reminder Assistant Editor LONGMEADOW With so much focus on infrastructure, lessons, lunches and transportation, it's easy to see how something as simple as a playground can be lost in the school budget shuffle. Playgrounds mean a lot to those who use them, however. That's why the Center School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is ready to upgrade theirs. "We were approached by some parents and we noticed that the playground was in really bad shape [last fall]," Elizabeth Baron, co-president of the Center School PTO, said. "We decided to take on the project because it really needed to be addressed." She and co-president Mary Gelinas started a committee in the fall of 2007 to figure out what the playground needed. "In back of the playscape, it's just dirt," Baron said. "It's a safety issue first and an eyesore second. The school nurse said she's had to handle a lot of injuries because of that area, and do a lot of eye washes because of the dust." The playground committee decided to break up the playground project into two phases, one dealing with the existing blacktop and the other with the dirt area. "Toward the end of the [2007-08] school year, we came up with concrete plans as to what we wanted to do," Baron stated. Once the paved area is leveled and resurfaced, volunteers will come in to paint on a variety of games found through the Peaceful Playground program. The goal of a Peaceful Playground is to focus on teaching students different conflict resolution strategies while having fun. "Mary discovered Peaceful Playgrounds," Baron noted. "She did a lot of research. It will give the kids great things to do during recess." Baron met with the School Committee on July 28 to share the PTO's plans with the committee and seek their approval. Superintendent E. Jahn Hart approved the project, and committee chair Christine Swanson said she was "anxious to see the results" of the project. The plan is to have all the blacktop work done by the time students return to the school on Sept. 2. The PTO has set aside $9,000 for the first phase of their playground project $2,000 for the blacktop resurfacing, $3,350 for the Peaceful Playground program, $1,800 for curbing, with the additional $1,850 set aside as a buffer. The majority of this money was raised through Center School's Tour of Homes fundraiser earlier this year, according to Baron. "That [fundraiser] gave us the opportunity to focus on a big project," she added. The fundraising for the second phase of the plan will start this fall, and Baron plans on sending out surveys to parents to see what they would like done with the dirt area. The PTO will also actively be searching for grants to help pay for the project as well. "The kids are going to be amazed when they come back and see the playground," Baron told Reminder Publications. "It's going to look a lot different, it's going to be such an improvement. Teachers, parents and kids will be excited. They'll be impressed by the changes." It's important that everyone enjoy the new play space, according to Baron. "This is a neighborhood issue," she said. "We have a very generous and very involved Center School community, and people will see it's definitely worthwhile to invest in the playground and in our kids." Anyone interested in volunteering to help paint the playground after it is resurfaced should contact Baron at 567-8683. | ||||||
