Schools
Schulte School Parents Fundraising for New Playground
It's been over 20 years since Schulte School had new playground equipment. Parents have gotten together to try and raise the $40,000 needed to give students a safer good time on the playground.
Remember when recess was the highlight of your day; when you couldn't wait to run yelling to the playground to climb and chase around the slide, the rings, and the monkey bars?
Students at Schulte School feel the same way about their recess, but the equipment over which they run and jump is aging, broken and could prove dangerous.
Instead of just wringing their hands and shaking their heads, a group of Schulte parents have gotten together to organize fundraising efforts to collect $40,000, which is the estimate of how much a new playground would cost. So far, the group has about $17,000.
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"The community is responding well to our efforts," said Leann Pomeroy, a member of the PTA. "We've been able to partner with some area restaurants and businesses, and that has been great."
Katy Johnson, another member of the parent group, said they entered a video contest through Kaboom.org, a non-profit dedicated to "saving play for America's children." If Schulte is one of five schools chosen, they will receive $15,000 toward their new playground.
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"That would be just amazing," Johnson said. "We are on a tight deadline because we want to have the new playground in place for the next school year."
Kaboom is announcing the winners on May 5.
Johnson said their goal is to reach their $40,000 goal by the end of June at the absolute latest so they have time to order the equipment.
"Building it is probably going to be the easy part," she added. "It really only takes a day to put it all up."
Additional fundraisers include a pancake breakfast hosted by South Shore Fire Department April 20 at Sturtevant Village Hall and a silent auction/ice cream social at Schulte on May 2.
As for why the school district doesn't replace playground equipment as needed, Johnson and Pomeroy said Racine Unified has a policy of giving three schools each year $5,000 each toward new equipment, and Schulte was chosen for the 2012-2013 year.
If you would like to donate money toward the Schulte School playground, visit the school's page at http://ourdreamplayground.org/projects/9513-schulte-elementary-s
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