Playground worth the wait

September 2nd, 2008 ·

By LISA HLAVINKA

Staff Writer

BRUNSWICK — After two years of scraping change and selling candy, Towslee Elementary students arrived for the first day of school last week to find their work had paid off: They have a new playground.

“The kids are so excited,” said city resident Shannon Cooley, who has three children at Towslee. “That was the first thing my daughter said on the way to school. ‘They’re building a new playground, I’m so excited!’ ”

The new playground is much more fun than the old one, the children unanimously agreed at recess Friday.

Towslee Principal Lisa Mayle agreed.

“Our playground was over 20 years old,” Mayle said. “Some of it was built out of wood and had rotted, and the slides were cracked and beyond repair.”

For a long time the slides were blocked with plywood because they were unsafe to use. A committee was formed to raise money to buy new slides, but after looking at the cost, the committee decided to raise money for an entirely new playground.

The committee determined it would take $55,000 to build the playground.

“We worked and we worked really hard to raise money,” Mayle said.

A large portion of the money came from a “Night at the Races” fundraiser that was organized by former parent-teacher organization president Susan DeForest, Mayle said.

The Brunswick Eagles Club 3505 made a $15,000 donation specifically for the playground, in addition to the money the club usually donates to Brunswick schools, Carl Toensing, an Eagles Club trustee, said.

The children helped raise nearly $1,000 by donating spare change to the “Pennies for Playground” fund.

First the kids competed by grade to see who could earn the most. To everyone’s surprise, it was the kindergarteners who won that, current PTO President Gabe Graf said.

Then it was boys versus the girls, which the boys won by about $10.

“The girls were just floored,” Graf said with a laugh.

On Aug. 9 the school held a “community build” to erect the new equipment. Parents, teachers and volunteers from Lowe’s, Home Depot and Brunswick Reform Church worked for two days to complete the build, and for three more days the equipment was inspected for safety by Play Creations, the equipment distributor.

“That was the best part, was seeing everyone come together and put this whole thing into play,” Mayle said.

The playground was built with Little Tykes equipment and includes a jungle gym with several slides, a rope climbing wall and 12 swings.

By far the children’s favorite is the Infinity Web, Mayle said. The web is made out of ropes in the shape of a spider web and is suspended a few feet above the ground.

Graf said once the playground was finished, the children were so happy that some would run up and hug her.

“I brought my kids when it was just finished and they asked, ‘Can we play?’ and before I could answer, they were gone,” she said.

Towslee is still waiting for one more slide to be erected for the playground to be officially complete.

In the meantime, Mayle said she and the PTO are organizing a celebration for the new playground.

“Seeing the community and all of our parents work together was probably one of the highlights of my career here,” she said.

Hlavinka may be reached at 330-721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.

 

                       

 

                     

Thank you for your support of the C.R. Towslee Playground Project!

Gold Sponsors ($1000 and up)

Eagles Lodge of Brunswick

Lowe’s Toolbox for Education 

Old Fashioned Days Committee

Starbucks

Brunswick Board of Education

C.R. Towslee Students & Staff

C. R. Towslee PTO

Silver Sponsors ($500- $999 donation)

Brunswick Kiwanis Club

       The Midea Family

        Palekar family

Bronze Sponsors ($100 – $499 donation)

        Brunswick Reformed Church

        Giant Eagle of Brunswick

        Mr. Patrick East

        Homestead Insurance Agency

Norma J. Jesse, O.D.

Mrs. Diana Kurilich and Family

Ohio School Pictures

Optimist Club of Brunswick

Edie & Tim Study

Webb Orthodontics

Engelke family

Croston family

Michele Kocevar

Reiter family

Smilnak family

Gasser family

Chunat family

Thompson family

DeAngelis family

Muha family

Mills family

Geiss family

John family

Davis family

Towslee PTO

Vick family

Theiss family

Ferraro family

Knopp family

Kerry and Wendy Hunter

Mrs. Mayle

Graf family

Girl Scout Troop 1303

Shumate family

Hilke family

DeForest family

Paul & Kim Tomashefski

Wills family

Cooley family

Halter family

Palekar family

Fujimura family

Miller family

Conway family

Gray/Kocevar family

Radabaugh family

Ohio Pictures

Towslee Teachers: Miss Schweisthal, Miss Lamphear, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Arnold, Mrs. White, Mrs. Holdash, Mrs. Arnold, Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Dick, Miss Boyer, Mr. Harrington

Towslee Teachers: Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Pollick, Mrs. Velic, Mrs. Calhoun, Mrs. Reisinger, Mrs. Braun, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Crouse

Towslee Staff: Mrs. Shaarda, Mrs. Study, Mrs. Stabile, Mrs. Cozzens