06/19/09
Dedication of 'Natureland' caps
decade-long playground initiative
Years of planning, preparation, fund raising, some setbacks, and a little bit of dreaming reached their zenith this past school year with the formal dedication of the green play area at Pond Cove Elementary School.
Pond Cove staff, parents and students formally dedicated "Natureland" at a grand opening celebration May 28, 2009.
"It's just a treasure," said Pond Cove school Principal Tom Eismeier at the June 9, 2009 meeting of the School Board. "I can't say enough for all the people who did all the work, all the craftsmanship to make it happen," he said.
Natureland represents the final phase of the school's playground initiative which began nearly 10 years ago. At the time, the playgrounds at the Pond Cove and Middle School, as well as at Fort Williams Park, were in disrepair, prompting action by concerned parents, members of the School Board, Town Council and Fort Williams Advisory Commission.
Eismeier credited two parents in particular, Lisa Gent and Suzanne McGinn, for keeping the playground vision going beyond setbacks with funding and with the addition of the kindergarten wing into part of the existing playground area in 2005.
After the playground at the south end of the school was replaced with traditional playground structures and equipment, the vision for the north end evolved into an area for outdoor learning, as well as a more relaxed venue for recess fun.
Students and staff have been using the green space since last year, but Natureland became officials with a grand opening celebration on the rainy afternoon of May 28. "This project is truly a community supported endeavor," Eismeier is quoted as saying in the June 4, 2009 edition of the Pond Cove Weekly News. In it, Eismeier acknowledges the contributions of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, Pond Cove Parents Association, the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation, and Portland Trails. (See newsletter for complete list of contributors).
Even as the school year was ending, Eismeier said the demand has required a schedule for the use of Natureland. In the fall a planning committee, with the help of the school's climate committee, will help make the use of Natureland a part of the curriculum in the daily lives of Pond Cove School students, Eismeier said.
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