October 2008

More Ways To Play

The Ridgeway Community School in Houston, Minn., expanded its playground to get more kids moving. Parent group members raised money and did physical labor to shift the playground to a larger space on the property, and they plan to add new equipment this year. The school will provide organized activities on the playground before classes, weather permitting. “When kids get their heart rates up, especially in the morning, they have more focus,” principal Jodi Dansingburg told the Winona Daily News.

Taking Steps

The Grand Avenue Elementary PTO in Chickasha, Okla., paid professionals to install a quarter-mile concrete walking trail on the school’s playground. Students earn prizes for walking each morning before school. The paved trail will allow kids to walk after wet weather without tracking mud and grass into the school building, a school official told the Express-Star newspaper.