Valley City Elementary School’s renovated playground is almost ready for recess – InForum

VALLEY CITY, N.D. — A newly renovated playground at a Valley City elementary school is almost ready for recess.

Brand new blue mulch was recently poured at Jefferson Elementary School, and new turf will be installed later this week, completely redesigning the playing surfaces. New basketball hoops will also be installed soon.

Existing playground equipment also received a new coat of paint to match the school colours.

PTO Past President Kyla Fetsch says that in addition to their fundraising committee, students played a significant role in reaching the project’s $300,000 goal.

“The kids wrote letters and reached out to their families and said, ‘Hey, we want to improve our playground,’ and they did that part. And then they had a fundraiser in the spring, like we do every year, but this year it was focused just on the playground project,” Fetsch said.

Director Becky Goven says it will be a big improvement on the old setup, which often became confusing.

“Things weren’t going well, so we had to have recess inside or on the track. It’s not the same. A lot of memories are made in an elementary school playground,” Goven said.

The name of the playground will be announced at a ribbon-cutting ceremony this fall. It will be chosen by the project’s lead sponsor, J&S Marketing.

There will also be a new arched entrance on the south side of the building.