Balgonie Elementary School unveils brand new 'funscape' playground

Balgonie Elementary School students were met with a brand new playground on the first day of school Thursday morning.

The new playground was made possible because of the community of Balgonie. Residents have been raising money for the last two years after students in Grades 5-8 participated in a poll in 2019.

The students who were in Grade 5 at the time are now in Grade 8 and are taking full advantage of the new structure.

“It is a great opportunity for older kids to have fun on the playground because we aren’t allowed on the other playground because of the little kids,” said Ryder Blair, a Grade 8 student at Balgonie Elementary School.

Other students like Mackenzie Petford are glad the community came together to make the ‘family funscape’ a reality.

“I am just glad that our town and school came together to build this for the older kids because we had nothing else to do,” said Petford.

The playground is geared for senior students during school hours but is open to everyone who wishes to attend.

The playground features a number of challenging obstacles like a rope pull, chin up bar, and a rope pyramid.

Jason Weitzel, principal at Balgonie Elementary School, said it is important for the students to know the community cares about the students.

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“I think it is really important that students have that sense that there’s people around them who care about their learning and their health, including their menntal health,” said Weitzel.

Kimberly Kiel was on the fundraising committee and said a local company sponsors each challenge on the playground.

The fundraising efforts were community wide, with students pitching in where they could.

“We had a really young student empty his piggy bank, we had the students here do hat fundraisers and ice cream fundraisers,” said Kiel. “We had two young men that did a year long bottle drive, so that they could donate a obstacle.”

Weitzel added that it takes a collaborative effort to raise children.

“It takes a community to raise a child and these kids are going to have a richer school experience because of the work that happened from the committee,” he said.