Bailey Elementary parents looking to upgrade school's playground equipment

• Upgrading the amenities

Some of the new playground equipment that the PTA is hoping to purchase has a lot more interactive equipment — such as climbing walls. Staff photo by Amber Kispert.

Talk about it

Parents of students at Bailey Elementary are hoping to provide an upgrade to their kids playground equipment.

“Recess Rocks” is a campaign started by the Bailey Elementary PTA which aims to raise money to purchase a new playground, while encouraging more active children in school and at home.

“Kids love to play and it’s an important part of their education,” PTA member Susan Trapp said. “As parents, we are all aware that there is too much TV and too much downtime in front of video games, but if you get kids started moving at a young age, you get them moving for a long time.”

Trapp said the PTA has been tossing around the idea of replacing the playground equipment for the past couple years since their current equipment is nearly 20 years old and there isn’t enough of it for the school’s 600 students.

“It’s really not meeting the needs of the school,” Trapp said. “Recess should be spent playing, not waiting your turn to play.”

Since the district doesn’t provide any money for playground equipment, it is on the PTA to raise the needed $40,000 to $50,000.

“It’s a big undertaking,” Trapp said. “You get very little for a lot of money.”

Some of the ways the PTA intends to raise the money is through various fundraising opportunities, including a classroom penny drive, entertainment book sales, Barnes and Noble fundraisers, collecting empty ink cartridges and cell phones and spaghetti dinners.

Additionally, the organization will be seeking sponsorships from local businesses. The businesses in turn will receive an engraved river rock to be displayed in the Bailey rock garden, Trapp said.

“We’re really excited about this,” Trapp said. “It’s going to be a great way for businesses to directly reach our families.”

Some of the additional incentives the PTA has developed with the Recess Rocks campaign include implementing more active activities during indoor recess, encouraging teachers to take their kids outside for some extra play time rather than having pizza parties, sending out a newsletter to parents with tips on how to get their kids outside and active and maybe even starting a morning exercise for students.

Trapp said the ultimate goal is to have the money raised for the playground within a year so that they can start getting kids moving and getting kids active for the future.

“This is asking a lot of our parents, but this is a chance for us to all come together and make a difference,” Trapp said.

For more information about the Recess Rocks campaign contact Susan Trapp at susan@trappweb.com. All donations to the Recess Rocks Campaign can be mailed directly to Bailey Elementary, 4125 Woodlane Drive.

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