聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The Carlyle Elementary School discovered in August of 2015, following a playground audit completed by the school division, that there was equipment on both playgrounds deemed unsafe.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Principal Tyler Fehrenbach explains, 鈥淥ver the years standards change. We were actually number one in the division for most equipment in need of being fixed or taken out.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Play structures deemed unfit have been removed and now the school faces the challenge now of replacing the structures.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he SCC began fundraising right away, the division has given us a timeline of 10 years to have stuff done by,鈥� Fehrenbach said. 鈥淭his past December the equipment was removed and we need to replace structures by 2026; but, we don鈥檛 want to wait eight years. The kids make do and find ways to play, but they are missing the play structures that were there and it鈥檇 be nice to be able to give them something as soon as we can.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e鈥檝e also asked the kids what they want to see, they all took surveys in their classes, and from that we have an idea of what they like 鈥� climbing and slides were two big ones. We鈥檝e contacted a couple of companies to see what costs look like.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For two play structures 鈥� one in the back playground and one in the front playground 鈥� the school is looking at a price tag of $100,000.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淥ne of the big things people think is how the school uses it so much for lunches and at recesses, but to be honest that鈥檚 just a fraction of the its use. On weekends and during the summer it鈥檚 used by the community and visitors to our community as well.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he biggest thing though is that we want to have something here for the kids to do, to keep them engaged.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The drive to raise funds is being headed by the School Community Council, so if anyone is interested in helping in anyway the school would be very appreciative of it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Last year Merit Ford hosted a Drive 4UR Community initiative in which they raised $3,580 by donating $20 for every test drive done that day; while the Carlyle PureChem Cougars matched any donations made during the last hour of the event. This is only a fraction of what鈥檚 needed, as playground equipment is quite costly.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Be on the lookout for future fundraisers or if interested donations to the playground fund can be made at the school.
