Mine Hill Educational Foundation
IT’S PLAY TIME!
New playground keeps kids active, happy
MINE HILL TWP. – Kids attending school and daycare at the Canfield Avenue Elementary School have something new to swing about: A brand new playground, courtesy the Mine Hill Education Foundation.
The modular facility, complete with climbing walls, slides and swings, was installed over the summer, replacing the old rusted equipment the school’s 300-plus student body had used for years, said foundation president Sam Morris on Thursday, Aug. 9.
Retailing for $136,000, the equipment was custom-made by its Tennessee manufacturer and paid for in part through fund-raising and a $36,000 grant under the state’s program combating obesity, he said.
The foundation plans to dedicate the playground on Wednesday, Sept. 5, the first day of school.
A tour of the school grounds, however, showed dozens of charges attending the school’s Canfield Kids Daycare Center already cavorting on the swings, scurrying across horizontal bars and zooming down the slides.
Six-year-old Akechi Anyanaso of Mine Hill was particularly enchanted with the swings. “They’re great,” he said, planting his feet for a fast take-off.
Since its founding in 2003, the Mine Hill Education Foundation has raised about $200,000 for a variety of projects ranging from the purchase of 90 computers, to renovating the school library and painting the gym. Funds are generally raised through the daycare center, private donations, and the annual Christmas plant, luminary and craft sales.
Morris said the foundation is now considering a scholarship for graduating students starting in 2008.
"Reprinted with permission from the Randolph Reporter"
The foundation is always seeking volunteers. To help,
contact Morris at (973) 989-9140.
