The current Springmyer playground provides recreation space for not only the 460 students of the school but countless other hundreds of children in the community who visit with their families outside of school hours and during the many sporting events held on school grounds. Sadly, the playground is extremely outdated. Much of the equipment is over 35 years old and is not up to today’s safety codes. The current play equipment is not able to stand up to any more wear and tear and contains pieces that not all students can enjoy. For example, some of our youngest students are too small to access the current monkey bars safely or feel comfortable on the steep metal slide. Because a good portion of the old equipment is made of metal and there is no shade for the playground, it also becomes unbearably hot to the touch during warm months and thus cannot be fully utilized. Also, the fact that it is a mulched playground means that on days when it has been raining, the children cannot access the equipment because of the muddy conditions. Yet another problem the children have on the current playground is that because of the way the basketball hoops are situated, they cannot be used without the ball consistently going over the fence and into the street. 

Given the fact that so many Springmyer students and other children in the community gather on the playground daily, it is in desperate need of a complete overhaul. These children deserve an updated playground where they can safely play, bond with their friends, and get the exercise essential for their growing bodies. With this in mind, the Springmyer playground committee has been working with Playground Equipment Services, Inc. to design a new Sparky Park where everyone in the community and school can come together to enjoy fitness, friendship, and fun. 

The new Sparky Park will have climbing equipment accessible to students of all ages, made from durable materials. The playground will have shade awnings and several other pieces of equipment for children who don’t wish to climb, such as a 10 spin, new swings, and basketball hoops that are located safely away from the street. The Sparky Park will also feature a poured surface, which is not only safer for the students to play on but will allow access to the park even when the natural ground is damp.