River View's $150,000 playground project possible through community support
WARSAW − Generous community donations made a $150,000 new playground project at River View Intermediate School a reality without any taxpayer dollars.
A dedication ceremony was held recently honoring the 26 donors to Foundation Park, named for the Coshocton Foundation as the lead sponsor. A banner will be hung on the fence outside the playground with a list of donors' names. It ranged from individuals, businesses, community service organizations and even River View's own second grade class. The PTO and Principal's Fund gave about $40,000.
Conesville and Keene elementary schools closed last school year as part of district reconfiguration. Preschool to second grade are now all at River View Elementary School, formerly Warsaw Elementary School. Third to sixth grades went to the old junior high building and seventh to eighth grades were put into the high school. As a junior high, the new intermediate school didn't have a playground.
Funding allowed for fencing, mulching and purchase and installation of 12 pieces of equipment, with some interconnected. Two swing sets and two monkey bars are coming yet from the old Conesville and Keene schools.
Principal Jarred Renner said the playground is designed for about 100 kids and recess has about 120 children at a time. However, some of them will be using the soccer field, basketball court, green space to play football and two GaGa ball pits. The school has outdoor recess year-round, barring severe cold or rain. There are 476 students at the school.
"The new playgrounds are designed in a way that (teachers) are more able to monitor kids on both sides. Everything is see through with not a lot of tunnels or things like that. It's easier to monitor kids for safety reasons," Renner said. "We were able to build a playground appropriate for the number of kids we have and one that will hopefully last for years."
The playground will also be available for use during sports games and practices and other events.
"It gives our main campus a playground now," Renner said. "If you have little kids, it's hard to sit out there for a long time, so they can come over and play and hang out for a little bit."
Renner said he was recently asked about what he was most proud of in the past year and he said completing the playground project was at the top. He took it upon himself to write grant applications and work with others in coordinating different donations.
"Doing all that leg work in the last year, I just stood out there and looked at (the playground) one day after it was finally up and the mulch was in and kids were playing on it. It was nice to get some pictures and see kids enjoying it. It was a long process," he said. "I couldn't have even started getting it off the ground with collecting grants and things like that if we didn't have sponsors right off the bat who said 'yes, we'll give.' With any project, having seed money to say, 'we have these funds secured,' then that secures more funds and more funds and more funds. Nobody wants to give to a project that's not going to happen."
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: River View Intermediate School playground dedicated
