The Halverson Elementary School playground will receive a facelift from a group of parents, but funds are still needed before the project can get underway, said organizer Susan Moore.

Wednesday, April 25, 2001

The Halverson Elementary School playground will receive a facelift from a group of parents, but funds are still needed before the project can get underway, said organizer Susan Moore.

Formed last spring after many parents and students started asking about a new playground, the Halverson Playground Committee decided to raise money and develop a design. The group’s goal is to raise about $25,000 to repair and restore much of the existing playground while adding a few new pieces of equipment.

According to committee treasurer Kim Stiernagle, the group is about halfway to their goal thanks to several fundraisers and some healthy donations from the Eagles ($2,500), Modern Woodsmen of America ($2,500), Hayward Fire Department ($500), American Legion ($300) and Security Bank ($100).

Halverson Principal Del Stein said the school district also allocated $5,000 for the project and will help with the installation of the playground underlay.

&uot;We’ve had a lot of cooperation from the district. We didn’t have to do any arm twisting to get their support,&uot; Stein said.

The fundraisers have also generated about $2,000, said Stiernagle.

&uot;The support of the Halverson parents has been tremendous,&uot; said Stiernagle. &uot;We packed our spaghetti dinner and our pancake breakfast with about 400 people each.&uot;

A top priority of the committee is to stay with the natural wood theme of the newer playground equipment installed about nine years ago. A recent survey of students showed a demand for a castle or pirate ship-themed jungle gym. The committee decided to try to purchase a large wooden castle-like jungle gym with peaked roofs, curved slide, bridges, fireman poles, tunnels and climbing nets.

&uot;It’s what the kids wanted, and it’s their playground,&uot; said member Tami Weitzel. &uot;We though it was important to get direction from them.&uot;

Moore said the current playground not only lacks upper-body activities like monkey bars, but it only has three swings, which are always popular during recess. The committee is also considering Halverson’s students with disabilities in the playground’s revised design.

&uot;We want to improve the general appearance and make it more cohesive,&uot; said Moore. &uot;We want to offer more to the kids and to the neighborhood.&uot;

Tiegs said the conventional school playground can cost upwards of $50,000. But the committee’s priority is to preserve as much of the current playground as possible and simply upgrade, bringing the costs down. The castle will be the group’s major purchase, she said.

Once the equipment is purchased – by summer 2002, the group hopes – the committee plans to organize the school’s parents for installation with the help of a certified playground safety inspector, said Moore.

&uot;We’re trying to be economical and find ways to involve the parents at the same time. The easiest way is to do a lot of the work ourselves,&uot; Moore said.