Clark Elementary playground ready for school to open

Countdown has arrived. Students will be arriving on the steps of Clark Elementary ready for school Aug. 23. New teachers arrive for in-service August 18. Professional development days for all are scheduled for Aug. 21 and 22. The school district support personnel are working hard to get everything ready for both teachers and students. There has been changes in nearly area. It is inevitable that construction dust has invaded every crook and cranny. Once the area is clean the new classroom space and media center/library will be filled with desks and materials.

On Aug. 4, Chad Wahls, Superintendent posted the following on the New London Community School District Facebook page: “Today Pro Tech Surfacing completed the pour-in-place rubber padding that lays beneath the playground equipment. Please continue to stay off the equipment until Tuesday as the surface has a curing time of 72 hours. The playground turned out even better than expected and there are so many to be thanked for the final product. I will do my best to recognize everyone that had a part in the planning and construction of the playground. If I forget you please don't hesitate to let us know.”

You may remember reading that the planning for the playground started over 18 months ago. Back in the Spring of 2022 Mrs. Lair's Technical Writing class started a study of the existing playground. The students gathered initial information that would have carry over to the fall semester in 2022 with a different group of kids in Technical Writing class. Those students would continue finalizing the study and presented to the Board of Education the options that were proposed. The Technical Writing class the provided the recommendation for the new playground and surfacing option.

At the end of the 2023 school year we put the existing equipment up for bid and had two entities purchase the equipment. They both arrived on site the week after school got out and removed the equipment to be reinstalled in their community and campground.

Following the demolition the next task was to excavate the existing subsurface, which was partially pea rock and wood chips. From the help of Tim Myers his excavation equipment along with his 8th grade son Landry the existing base was removed. In the coming days the site received a new subbase that was compacted and brought to grade in preparation for the erection of the playground.

The district decided to erect the playground themselves along with the help of several community members. By doing this the district saved roughly $27,000 as the company charges 30% of the cost of the equipment to build it. Along with this savings the New London PTO donated $7,000 toward the new playground, the Enhance Henry County Community Foundation granting the school district with $5,000 toward the playground as well as a $2,000 grant from Walmart. Most of the remaining cost for the new playground and surfacing came from the voted PERL Levy. PERL stands for Public Education Recreation Levy. This small tax of $0.13.5 per thousand allows the district to complete much need updates or renovations to recreational equipment or facilities.

In closing the district would like to recognize those that helped in some capacity in building and completing the erection of the playground. Those that have helped along the way are; Travis Benz, Carolee Benz, Jesse Howard, Karinda Wahls, Caydin Wahls, London Franklin, Logan Franklin, Gavin Browning, Aiden Browning, Damon Loyd, Darrin Loyd, Shane Mettler, Mark McSorley, Bryant Porter, Rick Westphalen, Matt May, Todd Palmatier and Wyantt May.