Summary:
A new playground has been installed at Hawlemont Regional School, replacing the 29-year-old playground that was demolished in early October. The playground was funded through a $60,000 state earmark and approximately $15,000 was raised by the school. The equipment is designed to look like natural wood and trees, and it includes features to allow children to develop motor skills while playing.
CHARLEMONT — A new playground is in sight for Hawlemont Regional School students.
Last week, the contractor, Bears Playgrounds, installed new equipment at the school to replace the 29-year-old playground that was demolished in early October. Principal Amber Tulloch said Monday that the students will be able to explore the new play area as soon as the woodchips arrive, which will likely happen later this week.
The playground was funded through a $60,000 state earmark and another $15,000 was raised by the school. Volunteer labor saved the district “thousands of dollars in demolition costs,” Tulloch noted.
“It actually didn’t cost the taxpayers anything and it really improves the quality of the playground,” Tulloch said. “The community support is much appreciated.”
“There’s definitely parents in this school who watched that playground (the former one) go in,” said Hawlemont School Committee member Ashley Sparks.
The new playground features a swing set with a tire swing, slides, partially buried tires and a climbing feature that looks similar to a pile of interconnected logs. Tulloch said students at Hawlemont are particularly fond of climbing and she hopes the kids enjoy having something other than trees to climb.
“Our kids are avid climbers, so we have these two trees our kids can climb,” Tulloch said. “This feature’s the one I’m most excited about because our kids are so great at that (climbing) and it’s such fantastic motor skills practice.”
Tulloch added that the playground is located next to the barn, allowing students to admire and play with the goats during recess.
“The younger ones will run the fence line and they’ll be chasing them,” Tulloch said.
Tulloch said the playground was designed to look like natural wood and trees, and it includes plenty of features that allow children to develop motor skills while playing.
“We want to mimic our environment but also be thinking about the challenges that we can give our kids because they’re so physical, and any opportunity that we have to build arm strength, build balance, hand-eye coordination in a way that’s really fun and engaging, we want to incorporate,” Tulloch said. “Every feature here was really intentional so that it would support our kids in growth and be really fun.”
