Students began classes at the Caledonia Elementary School on Wolfe Road in January 2017, so in many ways it is still a “new” school. As is often the case, a new school means unexpected issues.
“I’ve got a list of about four projects I want to work on,” said Roger Hill, the school’s principal.
One of those projects is the playground, which has a feature no one asked for or expected: A mud pit.
“When we moved into the school, we had the finest stand of grass on the playground you ever saw,” Hill said. “Well, turn 1,100 kids loose on a playground and you’ll see what happens.”
“When it rains, it’s just a muddy mess,” said Stephanie Crawford, vice president of the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization. “Where the playground is located, it kind of dips down so when it rains, the water just collects there and turns into a mud pit. If it rains, it’s several days before the kids can use the playground.”
To help remedy that problem, the PTO and students have been working to raise money to put down a new surface on the playground.
The two-week fundraising effort culminates Thursday at the school with a Castle Quest-themed run. Since last week, students have been collected pledges for each lap they run during Thursday’s event. The goal is $30,000 and by Sunday, the PTO had already collected $18,000 in pledges.
“The kids have worked so hard,” said Myranda Shelton, the PTO president. “So far we have had 400 kids who’ve gotten pledges so far and the community has been just great.”
Hill said the school will use some of its own funds to go with the money raised by Thursday’s event.
“I think one of the things they hoped to do was have a rubberized-pellet surface,” Hill said. “But that stuff is very expensive. We won’t be able to use that on the whole playground, so hopefully we can use that along with some other things. We’re still looking for ways to do it, but even if we can just address the worst places, it will be a big help.”
Hill said the money raised will mean addressing the playground issue sooner rather than later.
“There’s no way we could do this without our parents’ help,” Hill said. “So this really speeds up our plans.”
Parents and family are invited to come out to watch the kids run in around a “track” in front of the school. Groups of children will run 30 to 35 laps over a designated time in three groups at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
“Come out, bring your lawn chairs and cheer them on,” Shelton said. “These kids have worked so hard on this, so we hope there will be a lot of people out there supporting them on Thursday.”
To made a donation or pledge, you can send a check, payable to CEO PTO to the school at 9509 Wolfe Road, Caledonia, MS, 39740 or make a donation/pledge online at Funrun.boosterthon.com/a/s/BtXCTfzf
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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