By Cassandra A. Fortin , Special to The Baltimore Sun|October 05, 2008
The playground at Havre de Grace Elementary School wasn't very inviting.
It contained metal bars and slides, and it didn't engage the children when they played outside during recess. There were safety concerns, and the play areas were not accessible to the disabled.
"The playground was so antiquated, the county executive remembered that the playground was the same one he played on when he attended the school," said Ginny Popiolek, who has been the supervisor of physical education for elementary and middle schools, and health for K-12, for the past six years.
However, the Havre de Grace Elementary School playground was not the only one that raised concerns. So county school officials devised a master plan to upgrade and modernize all the playgrounds.
With childhood obesity on the rise, county school officials wanted to do things to make physical activities more appealing to the children, Popiolek said.
"I call playgrounds physical labs," Popiolek said. "Childhood obesity and wellness are such areas of concern that we wanted to do something to promote exercise during the school day."
Since the inception of the master plan, several of the county's schools have benefited from new playgrounds. This fall, the latest elementary schools to receive upgraded playgrounds - William Paca/ Old Post Road in Abingdon, Ring Factory in Bel Air, Edgewood, and Magnolia and Riverside, both in Joppa - will be dedicating their new playgrounds.
And this year, the school system plans to complete playgrounds at George D. Lisby in Aberdeen, Norrisville in White Hall, Churchville and a second playground at Riverside.
Money for the playgrounds comes from various sources. This year, the county's school system allotted about $100,000 toward the project, an amount that is matched by Parks and Recreation, Popiolek said. Other money comes from grants, donations from individual school PTAs and the county, she said.
To create the master plan, which was updated this summer, school officials looked at the motor development of children at different age levels and created systemwide standards for the county's 33 elementary school playgrounds, Popiolek said.
Each elementary school will have three playground areas, she said.
The first section is for early childhood, which includes children in preschool and kindergarten. The equipment includes activities where children climb stairs, balance, slide and swing.
