MACHIAS – A light rain fell on Friday, but the mood on the new Machias Elementary School playground was all sunshine.
“I like jumping off from the swing thingamabobber and spinning on it,” said MacGyver Glaser, 11, a fifth-grader, referring to orange rings dangling from a blue bar above the wood chip-covered playground.
Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald
The Whobble Wheels, as the manufacturer calls them, are among $33,000 worth of new playground equipment, thanks to the school’s parent-teacher group.
There also are climbers, slides, swings, drums, and tables and benches, creating a primary-colored paradise.
“The kids are in heaven,” said Sherri Maben, the parent-teacher group president.
Parents, students and teachers celebrated Thursday with a playground party.
Fundraising took about a year and included the parent-teacher group’s first auction in the spring. It featured trips to Africa, Harley-Davidson motorcycle rides, a puppy, latte gift cards, a birthday party on a fire engine, student-made gift baskets and countless other items and perks.
The school district chipped in more than $5,000 for the wood chips, consulting fees and other support.
“We have a lot of talented people, and just put our heads together,” said Pam Roberge, parent-teacher group volunteer coordinator.
At 35 years old, the school likely will be included in a future bond request for updating.
“Knowing that we don’t have the ability to do much with the state of the building itself, we decided to focus last year’s fundraising efforts on new playground equipment, with the idea that a great playground would help to make Machias Elementary a place where our kids want to be,” Maben said.
Now, parents are inspired.
They plan to organize another auction for spring 2007 with a technology focus, building upon the five computers they bought last year for the library.
Principal Ginny Schilaty said the school never could have bought such a playground. The cost equals 70 percent of its annual budget.
She added that the group has helped in other areas, too, including tutoring. “They don’t just build playgrounds.”
Indeed, parent groups in recent years have become key budget builders instead of sideline cheerleaders. Nationwide, parent volunteer groups each year contribute more than $2 billion worth of playgrounds, computers, field trips and the like, according to PTO Today, a trade magazine.
“Even though school budgets are larger, there’s more demands on them. Often, parent groups are stepping in,” said Tim Sullivan, the magazine’s publisher. “It’s still pretty rare for a parents’ group to pay for a teacher’s salary and other essentials. But it’s much more common for districts to deem things like playgrounds nonessential.”
Like other groups, Machias parents also installed most of the new playground equipment. Parent Mark Janssen, who owns a construction company, prepared the ground by moving dirt, grading, measuring and placing drain fields.
The new playground replaces worn-out wooden equipment, and keeps older students in mind. “The old playground, what was left and good, was geared more at the younger kids,” parent Marni McAuliffe said.
Parents included a health and fitness focus.
“We wanted certain things to build their upper-body strength, like chin-ups … things that are good for their bodies,” parent Tana Stritzel said.
Kids say they are impressed.
“We didn’t expect to get this much,” said Alyssa Cervantes, 11, a sixth-grader.
“On the wood stuff, you got slivers and stuff. I like this one because you have a lot more stuff to do,” said Sabrina Roberge, 9, a fourth-grader. “It’s really cool.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.
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