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MORONI, Sanpete County — After not having a playground for almost three years, the students and faculty of Moroni Elementary School are desperate for a slide and basketball hoops.
Moroni Elementary underwent construction in 2011 to add six classrooms to the school. Principal Stacey Peterson said previously there hadn't been room to fit all the students in each classroom and students had been meeting in portable units.
The addition was completed in 2012 and was necessary, but it took out most of the school's playground area including the black top, basketball hoops, slides and backstop for the baseball diamond.
"We were able to leave up some of the independent pieces that have been added over the last 30 years to our school," Peterson said. "There's monkey bars, chin-up bars and we have six swings — total. It's just not enough for 350 kids. And at recess you have anywhere from 100 to 120 kids out there at one time, and what we have just does not support that amount of play."
Liz Cook, a third-grade teacher at the school, said the funds weren't there to replace the playground after the addition. Cook said North Sanpete School District is small and doesn't have a lot of money.
The students and faculty began fundraising to raise the money to buy new playground equipment, but Cook said that raising the money has taken them a lot longer than they had anticipated.
I honestly think that it's been hard on them. They kind of thought that when they tore it down and the new addition got done that we'd have a playground again.
–Liz Cook, 3rd Grade Teacher
"It's just been hard," Cook said. "We live in such a low socio-economic area that the people don't have a lot to give, but they have given so much."
Peterson said the school is hoping to raise around $70,000 to get a playground set with three slides, monkey bars, a black top with some basketball hoops, a tether ball pole and a backstop for the baseball field. They have currently raised around $30,000.
"A playground structure is extremely expensive," Peterson said. "It is estimated at close to $58,000 and the black top is another $15,000. The structure that we want to build will support 140 kids at a time."
As part of the fundraising, the PTA president came up with the idea to have the students remake a popular song from the Disney hit, "Frozen." The students' rendition showed them playing on bare grass singing, "Do you want to build a playground?"
Cook said the students currently spend their recess time running around on the lawn and sometimes organizing games of soccer or kickball, but that their options are very limited.
"I just walk around with some of my friends," sixth grader Cambrie Roper said.
Ten-year-old Marcus Serrano agreed. "It's kind of boring when we play here."
"I honestly think that it’s been hard on them," Cook said. "They kind of thought that when they tore it down and the new addition got done that we’d have a playground again."
"It would be fun for us to go down a slide and play with our friends," fourth grader Jaxton Reyes said.
Peterson said they hope that they will have the funding by the beginning of June so the playground can be installed before the next school year.
"We can't wait to have a playground so we have an active kids at recess," Peterson said.
A *fundraising link has been set up for donations.
*KSL.com
