Steenrod Elementary Kicks Recess Up a Few Notches
Joselyn King Trending
WHEELING - Students at Steenrod Elementary School for many years have wanted a playground, and now they have the beginnings of one.
Phase 1 of the new playground project was opened with a ribbon cutting and fundraising event Wednesday night. Youths present rushed to climb the new rope station. They also had the opportunity to throw balls and dunk their favorite school personnel in the dunk tank, play games and eat pizza and ice treats.
Money raised will go toward Phase 2 of the playground project, which is planned to open in the the fall of 2023, explained Principal Michelle Dietrich.
Phase 1 cost $63,000, and was largely funded through a $40,000 grant from the City of Wheeling. Mayor Glenn Elliott and Vice Mayor Chad Thalman were among those attending the ribbon cutting on Wednesday.
Additional money was raised through a dance-a-thon and a steak fry. Each event raised more than $15,000, according to Dietrich.
At present, the school has $18,000 to go toward Phase 2, which is expected to cost $120,000, she continued. It will consist of an integrated play structure with a shade and three sliding boards.
"That was very important to the kids because they want to be able to race each other down the slide," Dietrich said.
Work to design and construct and build a playground couldn't happen until a planned cafeteria addition for the school was constructed.
"For the last five years, our kids have been asking for a playground," Dietrich said. "But until we knew where our addition was going to go, we really couldn't move forward. So once the addition was pretty much done, we could say, 'This is what our plan is.'"
Elliott said Wheeling City Council sees investment in playgrounds as an investment in the city's future.
"We are proud to work with the school system to help get kids off couches and into physical activity," he said.
Thalman added the city was "happy to play a role" in working with Ohio County Schools to open its playgrounds to the public.