Cloudy skies Wednesday didn’t dampen the spirits of 500 students
at Spring Grove School who got their first chance Wednesday to romp
on the school’s brand-new playground.
Cloudy skies Wednesday didn’t dampen the spirits of 500 students at Spring Grove School who got their first chance Wednesday to romp on the school’s brand-new playground.
“They are just crazy about it,” said first-grade teacher Patty Starritt. “We really needed something better for them. They’re having a lot of fun finding out what all the components can do.”
Students cheered as balloons were released to signal the opening of the playground. Spring Grove Principal Susan de la Torre introduced the volunteer construction crew from Graniterock who helped build it and presented the workers with a plaque and hand-made flower baskets.
“They’ve been waiting all year for this,” said Shari Hastings, a member of the school’s Parents Club and organizer of the playground project.
Hastings said the old playground was a dilapidated wooden structure that was no longer up to code. “It needed to go,” she said.
Fundraising for the project began three years ago, she said, but construction did not begin until August 2002.
Hastings said the school board and the Parent-Teacher Association were very supportive of the project.
“The school board said they would match us anything we raised,” she said. “We raised $20,000 for the equipment and they kicked in the other $20,000.”
Getting the money for the equipment was one issue. Then it needed to be installed.
Hastings had heard about Graniterock’s generosity for building playgrounds and approached Mike Kennedy, manager of the company’s Gilroy-Hollister branch.
“We’re pretty easy,” Kennedy joked.
Hastings, a Certified Public Accountant, said she knows about crunching numbers, and Graniterock’s donation of time and labor saved about $10,000.
