Cooperative effort brings new playground to Kearney Elementary

By: Emily Hoffman

Fifth-grader Andrew Shepherd smiles when he talks about the new playground at Kearney Elementary School. It has a rock wall and three slides — equipment that fits little kids and big kids alike.

“The first day, everybody wanted to play,” Andrew said. “They were pushing their way through.”

The former playground, which had been in place since the 1970s, was designed for younger children.

“There was nothing for the bigger kids to play on,” said Carol Taylor, a mother of a Kearney Elementary first-grader.

In addition to the new playground, Kearney Girl Scout Troop 3101and the AT&T Pioneers, the volunteer arm of AT&T, painted a new foursquare box and a map of the United States on the ground.

Sherry Hodges, an AT&T volunteer, has been painting maps on school playgrounds for seven years.

“When you get a group like you have today, it's a lot of fun,” said Hodges. “We also like education.”

Hodges said the map came with a set of educational games that were given to the classrooms.

Nathan Shepherd, a second-grader, uses the map for learning games. Emily Taylor uses the map, and the playground, for fun during recess. All the children seem happy to have the new playground installed.

The Kearney Elementary PTO, students and teachers began raising money for the new playground in December of 2006 with their first ever Snowflake Festival, for which all the classes in the school put together baskets to be auctioned off.

Raising money continued with a spell-a-thon and the Pennies for Playground project. During Spirit Week earlier this fall, classed raised $800 with the Pennies for Playground project.

The Kearney Elementary PTO also received several large donations from parents.

The community also pitched in and donated to the cause. Remington Steel donated the concrete, McKown-Gordon Construction donated the labor and equipment to tear down the old playground, and Miracle Recreation matched the money raised for the new equipment.

Kids, teaches and parents are grateful for the new playground.

“We wanted our playground to be at the same level of playground as the other schools,” said Anita Shepherd, mother of two Kearney Elementary students.

Kearney Editor Emily Hoffman can be reached at 628-6010 or ehoffman@kearneycourier.com.