Elgin school works toward new playground

Illinois Park Center for Early Learning has dedicated staff members, parent volunteers and a diverse group of at-risk children.

One thing the Elgin school doesn't have is a proper playground.

In fact, staffers at the school believe it is the only elementary building in Elgin Area School District U-46 the state's second-largest school district that does not have a playground.

Parents and educators say structured recess is an important tool to teach young children how to socialize properly with peers and to fight childhood obesity so they have launched an effort to raise the money for a new playground.

“You activate your brain when you have physical exercise,” said Julie Kallenbach, director of early learners initiatives for U-46 and principal of Illinois Park. “That's the way they make friends. That's the way they communicate with each other.”

Kallenbach and parents at the school are determined to raise enough to cover the $24,000 price tag of the playground equipment that Kallenbach has already picked out for her students.

The play structure the school is hoping to purchase is a winding, disabled-accessible set with walkways and slides. It incorporates elements the kids said they wanted, like a climbing wall and an overall design modeled after a choo-choo train.

Kirsten Roberts, a parent and PTO leader who volunteers at the school during recess and lunchtime, says a new playground set is badly needed.

Since an older, deteriorating playground that was deemed unsafe was torn down before the start of school this year, children have been playing in a paved lot on the side of the school, bare except for some lines teachers and parents have painted on it.

“The kids look bored out there,” Roberts said. “There is nothing to do except run around the mulch and chase each other.”

Through fundraisers large and small, the school has raised more than $9,000 toward a new playground, Kallenbach estimates. The principal has also applied for grants totaling more than $10,000.

And children are getting in on the action by collecting coins in jars kept in their classrooms. While that doesn't sound like much, Kallenbach said one teacher counted the change and cash in her jar and found that it added up to $75.

Whether or not the grants are awarded, Kallenbach is determined that her students won't go a full year without a playground. She hopes to have the new equipment installed in the spring.

“We will build it this year, there is no doubt about it,” Kallenbach said. “These kids are here only a year. They should see the fruit of their work.”

To find out how you can help, contact Kirsten Roberts at greenerdays75@aol.com or call the school at (847) 289-6041.