New playground proposal sparks fundraising by Michelle Libby

It is advised that children have 175 minutes of physical activity each week, while in school. With 818 students at Windham Primary School, the need for good and appropriate play equipment is critical. After three years of planning and being promised funding from the school board, parents and teachers have banded together to raise half of the money needed for new playground equipment.

“We have 22-year-old original playground equipment that no long meets the needs of today’s students,” said volunteer coordinator at WPS Michelle Jordan. “They were built with one size kid in mind,” she said.

The plan involves disposing of the existing materials and expanding what is now called A house playground back into the woods and not using the C house playground space, which tends to be muddy and not useable in the spring,” according to Jordan. The new community space will include a walking path, play areas, a baseball field, outdoor basketball court, a large grass play area, two swing sets and two playground areas, one for smaller students and the other for second and third graders. The whole complex will be fenced in. Also increased will be the parking and traffic flow.

Completed the project will cost $900,000. The goal for the parents is to raise $50,000, but they would accept donations for any part of the project. “We are focusing on the playground because it wasn’t included in the financials when it started,” said Jordan.

During conferences parents are encouraged to buy raffle tickets for baskets that have been donated and are on display at WPS. There is also a $500 cash prize which will be raffled off. Every $10 donated gets one raffle ticket. In April, students will be collecting pennies for our playground, said Jordan.
Work on the project is expected to begin when school closes and will be completed two weeks before school starts.

For more information on the project, visit www.rsu14.org, email wpsvolunteer@gmail.com or on Facebook under Windham Primary School Playground.