Perryville elementary school receives new playground equipment

The vision for new playground equipment for the Perryville Elementary School was recently accomplished with the help of parents, grandparents, volunteers, students, school staff and community members. The parent group initiating the project call themselves the "P.I.E." group (Parents Involved in Education).

Their vision for adding new playground equipment and making renovations to the current playground began well over a year ago. "We wanted to update the equipment and make the playgrounds more versatile to meet the needs of all children," said Kim Schnurbusch, parent volunteer. "We looked at what the kids were playing on and realized that some of the special needs students just weren't able to get involved."

Funding for the new equipment came from fundraising efforts and donations from businesses and individuals. "We realized that the school didn't have the resources to finance the project," said Schnurbusch, "so we sponsored fundraisers and solicited donations. We raised $18,500 to pay for the equipment and another $2,500 to repaint existing equipment."

The P.I.E. volunteers hope to continue their fundraising efforts so they can replace the ground cover, perform maintenance on the equipment and replace equipment as it wears out.

In addition to hosting fundraisers to improve the playground areas, the P.I.E. orgranization holds informational meetings where they share ideas on how parents and teachers can work together to enhance student learning.

The next P.I.E. Night meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, October 19, in the elementary library, will focus on issues facing parents of multiples (twins & triplets) entering school.