In order for WK staff to keep age groups safely separated on the playground, the 5th-6th grade students are not allowed to play on the playground with large slides built in 2018, visible from Cty Rd 30. On a regular basis this separation leaves them with just old basketball hoops, swings and monkey bars installed 25 years ago.
In November of 2022, 5th grade students Carissa Jensen and Aaliyah Siegele joined our PTO meeting to advocate for improved playground equipment for themselves and their peers. They expressed their frustration with their lack of access to better equipment and how unfair it felt to them. These brave girls were the first ones to raise awareness to our organization that this group of students do not have the playground experience they deserve to have.
In response to their heartfelt presentation our Parent Teacher Organization made a donation of new basketballs, footballs, kickballs, a 9-Square game and other small pieces of equipment in an attempt to help. We quickly realized it wasn’t enough after hearing continued complaints from students and staff.
In 2023 the 16.2 million dollar referendum passed for Wabasha-Kellogg Public Schools. Our members attended community feedback meetings and made multiple requests for playground equipment to be included in the referendum plans. Unfortunately there was no interest in making playground equipment a priority as part of the referendum budget.
Despite these roadblocks we continued to design & develop a solution for these students.
We wanted to achieve 2 main goals with the new equipment:
1. To encourage students to be physically active. The plan includes structures resembling an obstacle course to challenge their physical strength and endurance, complete with a “Wall clinger” and an American Ninja “Victory Wall” at the end.
2. To include students of all abilities. The plan includes a “Inclusive Volta Spinner” which is a structure designed to support all students, including those with disabilities.
We didn’t include the most extravagant structures in the catalog but the design achieves our goals in the most cost-effective way. The facility supervisor verified that the plan will work within the designated space. For all equipment, shipping, installation, surfacing, shipping, and fees the total cost was quoted by our preferred vendor, St. Croix Recreation at: $107,545.
For more details on the scope of the project, see the project summary document here: https://docs.google.com/
Here’s how you can help:
Donate to this campaign fund
Share this & follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/wk.
Talk to local businesses, friends and family about supporting this cause
Business Sponsorships: Premium sponsors of our project will receive their business name and/or personal names on a permanent sign next to the playground along with online recognition during and after our fundraising campaign. Please reach out to pto@wkfalcons.org for more information.
We plan to attend the next School Board and City Council meetings to continue sharing our plans and seek community support in funding this project.
Together we can improve the playground experience for these students.
Thank you for the support!
– Members of the Wabasha-Kellogg Parent Teacher Organization
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wk.pto
Reach out directly to the board: pto@wkfalcons.org
or to Kala Koch, President: kalamkoch@gmail.com
