Rendering of Read Elementary School's new playground. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Oshkosh Fire Department is hoping to create a safe space for kids with a new playground.
The department is working with Fox Valley Technical College and Read Elementary School to build an innovative public play space at the school, that comes with a special theme.
With an exciting “fire station” theme, this playground will create an area for students to socially connect and use their imagination, while also helping build a stronger partnership between Read Elementary and the community.
“My daughter is a first grader here at Read and when we first started coming to school, she went to the playground and that was our way to get her involved in the school, and we saw there was a great need with the playground,” said Jennifer Skolaski, an Oshkosh mother.
According to the school nurse, during the first 53 days of school, there were 159 playground/recess injuries, which is 43% of the student population.
In comparing other schools, the number of injuries at Read are 12% higher than that of Oaklawn Elementary School, which has a newer playground.
“That’s how this whole Read playground project came to be,” said Skolaski.
The collaboration came about when parents, like Skolaski, community members and staff began to explore how to update the school’s playground and create a safe destination for students.
“So many of the students in our population here at Read have had to grow up way too fast due to their life circumstances and this is a way for us to say, ‘hey, you deserve a big beautiful playground and somewhere to play and have fun and be kids,'” said Emily Eisenschink, Read Elementary School’s principal.
Read Elementary is a diverse, kindergarten through fifth grade school with approximately 370 students. 62% are identified as economically disadvantaged.
“It was heartbreaking to me to think that we don’t have a safe and fun environment for these school children to play at and get a break during the day,” said Oshkosh Fire Chief Michael Stanley.
The themed playground will also be a place to nurture relationships between first responders and students. Plus, create opportunities that will intrigue children to join the fire department in the future.
“We want to plant that seed that they could grow up and become a firefighter and not just as it’s just an option, but we want to demonstrate that it’s an obtainable goal for these children,” said Stanley.
In addition to the partnership, Oshkosh Fire and Fox Valley Technical College plan to support Read Elementary in several other ways, like serving as mentors.
“Go have lunch with them, and go through and do things like read stories, they have a story time program in the school, to do those types of things and have our students do that,” said Chris Fischer, fire instructor at Fox Valley Technical College.
The school is asking for support from the community with a financial goal of $450,000 in hopes of breaking ground this summer.
If you’d like to help with the play space project, click here for more information.
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