Schulte School Playground Ready for Playtime

Just five short months after planning and fundraising got underway for a new playground at Schulte School, the equipment is up and nearly ready for playtime.

A group of about 30 adult and 20 child volunteers got up bright and early Saturday to start work at 7 a.m. installing the new equipment that cost around $40,000, all of which was raised by a dedicated group of Schulte parents.

"Yeah, wow, five months," Katy Johnson noted Monday while waiting for a call from a concrete contractor to pour the fittings. "It's crazy and exciting to see what we've been able to accomplish."

Racine Unified does not maintain or replace playground equipment at its schools, but the district does choose three schools each year to receive $5,000. Schulte was chosen for the 2012-2013 school year.

The rest of the funding was put together with a mix of private donations, a pancake breakfast put on by South Shore Fire Department, an ice cream social/silent auction at Schulte and a couple of grants as well.

After the concrete is poured around the support poles, volunteers will make the sand under the structure a little more even. Johnson said they'll have to go out again after the school district delivers more sand, but the new playground will be ready for kids on the first day of school.

"We had an awesome committee," she said. "But we could not have done this without the grants and the South Shore Fire Department. Those guys helped us raise money, but they were out there working with us, too."

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