Some brand new playground equipment will be waiting for Knox Elementary School students when they return to class this August.
Back in March, the elementary school was awarded approximately $40,000 through the Lowe’s Operation Playground grant. The grant money was put toward new equipment and additional funds raised by the Lil’ Redskins Fan Club covered the cost of installation and mulch.
Second-grade teacher Jamie Shireman commented that the process of taking down the wooden structure, which was more than 30-years-old, started back in June. They also had the pea gravel in the surrounding area hauled away.
Shireman noted that the members of the schools’ maintenance crew John and Nick Towe were integral to this project and added that the City of Knox Street Department and Starke County Highway Department provided a great deal of assistance during the process as well.
The finishing touches were added to the west end playground Wednesday morning when some teachers, administrators and kids teamed up with crew members from Lowes to lay down the mulch.
Shireman said they estimated this final portion of the project would take hours to complete. However, the collective effort of spreading 300 yards of mulch only took the volunteers a total of 45 minutes to finish.
The west end playground is used primarily for first and second-grade students and sits adjacent to the Outdoor Odyssey Learning Lab that was installed in October.
