By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Every child should have a safe place to play. On Monday, Simpson Elementary School in Russell cut the ribbon on its new playground. Principal Katie Revell said the new playground will serve 175 students this year.
"Our playground had not been updated in many years," she said. "Our current surface is cracked asphalt, so kids frequently have skinned knees, injuries that come along with having a really unstable ground. We also didn't have preschool-friendly equipment. It was more geared to our six and seven-year-olds."
Simpson Elementary teaches grades Pre-K through first in Russell. USD 489 Hays also houses an Early Childhood Connections, or Head Start, class in the building to serve the community's three and four-year-olds. With that partnership with Early Connections and USD 489, Simpson received $31,176 for a Waste Tire Grant Fund, and Early Connections contributed another $50,000 toward the playground, which will help students develop their gross motor, communication, and creativity skills.
"One of the things we wanted to encourage was some gross motor skill practice, so we added things that would allow students to climb and hang," said Revell. "We also added a border on our playground that is going to serve as a trike track, then we purchased trikes so kids can be developing those skills."
Simpson Elementary grant funds paid for approximately $5,000 toward the new playground.