Students at Union Elementary School only had to wait two days to get to try out the new castle at the school’s playground after 43 volunteers made up of parents, teachers and staff came out to assemble and install it on Saturday.
UES Principal Deanna Rush said the school was able to purchase the castle, which includes three slides and even a pair of bongo drums, for only $13,000 thanks to a Parent-Teacher Organization discount that was given by manufacturer Landscape Structures who supplies playground equipment all over Mississippi and Alabama.
Starting around Christmas 2016, the school district raised the $13,000, including a $5,000 donation from the Union PTO in March, through non-profit fundraising website Donasity to replace the old castle that had become a safety hazard due to several repairs.
The school initially was looking to purchase a more expensive castle for about $25,000 but wanted to have a piece of equipment in place for the start of school.
“We were able to get a better system for a better price,” Rush said. “This one will allow more children to play at one time.”
The Union High School Agriculture program helped prepare the playground for the instillation on Friday.
Rush said it only took the volunteers, under the supervision of a representative from Landscape Structures, about four hours on Saturday, although most assemblies take from six to eight hours.
“The company rep said that he had had some good support in other places but never that many who knew what they were doing,” Rush said. “We had a lot of people and they were knowledgeable so he said it was record time putting it together.”
The UES first graders were the first to test out the new castle as they had the first recess session of the day on Monday morning.
Rush said there are plans to paint the fencing and some of the other equipment to match the new castle’s red and blue colors scheme.
