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The current playground equipment at Green Acres Elementary in North Ogden.

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Meg Sanders

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A photo of the current playground equipment at Green Acres Elementary in North Ogden (top) is compared to a rendering of the equipment the parent-teacher organization hopes to raise money to build.

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The current playground equipment at Green Acres Elementary in North Ogden.

Courtesy image

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A photo of the current playground equipment at Green Acres Elementary in North Ogden (top) is compared to a rendering of the equipment the parent-teacher organization hopes to raise money to build.

Courtesy image

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Goal-setting started on the elementary school playground.

Sure, reading a stack of books was a fine goal. I thought about being the queen of multiplication tables, but I was all brawn. Getting good grades … great goal but then what would my sister have to stand out?

But what really mattered most was crossing the monkey bars, how many rungs I could skip, how big a blister I could build, whether I could flip the rings over the top bar and land it. Many of those precious recess minutes were spent swinging, trying to touch the sky with my toes. It wasn’t the classroom where I learned to push myself. It was the old wooden playground behind the school.

As my mother corrected papers after school, I’d be out on the Bob Leather-inspired wooden playground perfecting my monkey bar game. I still brag to my kids about the time I jumped four bars. Now I can barely hang for three seconds, throwing my account into question.

Playgrounds mattered. It’s where it all happened — friendships were tested, enemies were created, negotiations were made and we all learned fact from fiction. Schools once understood the importance of those spaces, the life lessons learned with slim supervision. It didn’t hurt playgrounds cost about one-third of what they do now and schools seemed like they had a lot less to worry about. Priority for these playgrounds are now lower on the list behind Chromebooks, armed security and panic buttons.

Weber School District, like every other district in the state has been mandated to make significant security upgrades to their facilities like entryways, lock upgrades, fencing, security film on windows, panic devices and armed safety randos (School Guardian Program).

These demands were made without appropriate funding, so now Weber School District is seeking a property tax increase of $279 million to cover the cost and there isn’t room in the budget to replace old playground equipment. The Truth in Taxation public hearing is set for Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. inside Weber School District Offices Board Room, located at 5320 Adams Avenue Parkway in Ogden. If schools want a new, safe and inclusive playground, they need to community source the funds.

That’s exactly what the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Green Acres Elementary is trying to do. The PTO has set an ambitious goal to raise $199,999 to build two new playgrounds, one for upper grades designed for students of all abilities — so those in the Life Skills class can play with their peers — and one another play area for younger students.

Every kid deserves to make their own monkey bar goals, mobility issues or not. And while fundraising may not be as fun as touching the sky from a swing, it’s still a noble goal.

North Ogden City has pledged their support of a new playground with the city’s Mayor Neal Berube writing: “The southern part of North Ogden is one of the fastest growing areas in our city and has limited parks available to the public… The completion of this project would not only enhance the experience of those who attend Green Acres but would provide the opportunity for those nearby to have an all-inclusive playground as they attend events on weekends and in the evening.”

As such, North Ogden City has agreed to in-kind donations such as labor, which would total $30,000,

Weber School District will cover removal of the sand, replacing it with bark, and haul away the old equipment. The Weber School Foundation, the 501(c)(3) for the school district, is giving $5,000 towards a playground.

Getting support hasn’t been easy. The first question from many is the obvious one: Why isn’t the school district paying for this? It’s a fair question with a complicated answer. Priorities have shifted, whether it be the Chromebooks our children came home with this summer or the school districts continuing to offer free summer lunches to hungry families. Schools are doing it all on a tight budget created by Utah lawmakers asking educators to do more with less as they fund the Utah Fits All Scholarship or School Guardian Program.

Over at Green Acres Elementary, parents and administrators are filling the gap in the face of a budget shortfall, trying to hit that magic prime number of $199,999. Why such an odd number?

The PTO plans to apply for a dollar-for-dollar Weber County R.A.M.P. (recreation, arts, museums and parks) Grant and $199,999 is the threshold for funds. It’s a smart strategy and it means every dollar counts.

My own kids are past the age of recess, beyond the swings and slides. These days it’s memes, texts, and mall runs. But I still see the value of a playground, of helping kids grow strong, brave, connected, and kind. Our playgrounds are a gather space for families whether it’s during recess, SWAT soccer games or killing time before bed.

If we care about whole-child education, it can’t stop at the classroom door. The PTO at Green Acres is doing the hard work. We can help them reach their goal and build a space where every kid, no matter their ability, has the chance to climb, swing, and maybe even touch the sky.

If you want to check out the playground and help the students at Green Acres Elementary, head to their school festival on Friday, Sept. 19, from 5-7 p.m. Play games, eat food and help a community build a park. You can also make a direct donation to the school for the playground as greenacres.wsd.net.

Meg Sanders worked in broadcast journalism for over a decade but has since turned her life around to stay closer to home in Ogden. Her three children keep her indentured as a taxi driver, stylist and sanitation worker. In her free time, she likes to read, write, lift weights and go to concerts with her husband of 18 years.