Green area to serve as playground and learning environment
for Pond Cove kids
Learning at Pond Cove School is extending beyond the classroom -- and out
on to the playground.
The School Board this month got a glimpse of plans for the final phase of
Pond Cove's playground initiative, which began in 2001 with fund-raising
and installation of new playground equipment at the elementary and middle
schools.
The plan is not for swingsets and slides, but for a shrub maze, an arbor
tunnel, and a stone dust foot path that crosses a dry creek flanked by sand
dunes.
"It's not just a playground - it should be a learning area," Pond Cove Principal
Tom Eismeier told members of the board at their April 10 meeting.
Eismeier presented a designer's drawing of what is envisioned for the playground
area south of the new kindergarten wing. Before the wing was built in 2005,
funding constraints and the uncertain location of the wing put this final
phase of the playground project on hold, said Pond Cove parent Lisa Gent.
Gent worked on the initial playground phases and has been a leader in the
volunteer drive for the new green playground space.
In the mean time, Gent and another parent, Suzanne McGinn, had been working
with Pond Cove staff in their role on the education committee of the Cape
Elizabeth Land Trust. What the volunteers heard from staff was a desire for
an educational space, one that will allow teachers to enhance and supplement
curriculum they are teaching indoors.
The concept of "schoolground greening" is taking shape throughout the nation,
and local examples are at Nathan Clifford and Longfellow elementary schools
in Portland.
McGinn said the play space represents a movement toward experiential learning,
something Pond Cove teachers are becoming more and more interested in. The
plan includes a covered, outdoor classroom with movable benches.
The new space will also provide an area for alternate outdoor play for Pond
Cove children, McGinn said. "A lot of kids seem to want a quieter space,"
she said. Gent added that teachers expressed an interest in using the area
for informal, unstructured play, which can be as rich a learning experience
as formal activities.
The Pond Cove greening project is being supported by the Cape Elizabeth Land
Trust, Portland Trails Association, the Pond Cove Parents Association, and
the Pond Cove teaching community.
The project is continuing to seek financial support, and hopes are to begin
construction this spring, with a hands-on, outdoor learning environment ready
for use in the fall.
Another facet of the new space will be expansion of the community garden,
a project initiated by school district Volunteer Coordinator Gail Schmader,
Eismeier said. A parent, Todd Brydson, donated his professional landscape
design talents for the project.
After Eismeier's presentation, School Board member Trish Brigham said, "If
I could stand up and jump and clap, I would."
Brigham said she worked on the playground committee five years ago and was
disappointed not to see the third phase come to fruition at that time. "But
this is even better," she said.
"It was worth the five-year wait," Brigham said.
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