Dedication event held for new FCUE playground

A ceremony dedicating the Franklin County Upper Elementary School’s new state-of-the-art playground, paid for through a grant from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation, was held Friday, Oct. 21.

The 5,380-square-foot playground features 24 pieces of equipment with turf safety surfacing and shading, and is the first of 12 planned outdoor structures to be formally opened on public school campuses across the Magnolia State.

Randy Youngblood, FCUE counselor and president of the Franklin County Education Corp., opened the gathering by saying the community was truly thankful for the investment by the BCBS of Mississippi Foundation in improving the campus’ quality of life for students via the playground grant.

“As one who has been an educator in Franklin County for 29 years, and being in an area that is known as a rural and low-income district, we are grateful when extra dollars come to make things better for our children,” Youngblood said.

“As a representative of the FCEC, which has sought to come alongside of the educators of our county for years, we were thankful to be a part of this. Our mission is to complement, help advance and provide along with encourage our students and educators and advance the role of education in our county.”

Youngblood noted FCEC began funding the “Leader In Me” initiative four years ago for kindergarten through eighth grade students.

The outreach spotlights the seven tenants of highly effective people, including being the best individual each child can be and the value of working together.

“Habit No. 7 is ‘sharpen the saw,’ which means (students) can’t just study and be healthy,” Youngblood continued.

“We need to exercise our minds, our relationships with others and our emotions with what we celebrate today — our bodies — with an amazing facility like this.”

Youngblood noted the new playground is more than what it appears — as it will serve to help youth exercise their bodies in scientifically based ways as studies have shown creating outdoor environments for unstructured activities supports health and chances to succeed academically.

Eugenia King, who serves as BCBS of Mississippi Foundation health and fitness coordinator, was in attendance to say her organization is proud of the role it plays in working to help young people become healthier.

“We know the healthier students are, the better they perform in the classroom,” she added.

“To the local school leaders, we thank you for your support of health and wellness, and to the teachers, thank you for your dedication to our future Mississippians.”

King said she hoped students would enjoy the new playground and also thanked parents for their involvement in each child’s education while asking that they continue to promote healthier and active children in the community.

In addition, King said many life lessons have been and will continue to be experienced on playgrounds at school and that the new FCUE facility will hopefully spark wonderful memories and promote imagination and activities for years to come.

“This playground will not only promote physical activities, but also social and emotional support,” King went on to say.

“We also want to thank the PlayCore team, who made this vision a reality.”

Robert Barron, executive director of Chattanooga, Tenn., based IMPACT Parks, which designed and constructed the playground in conjunction with Struthers Recreation, said his firm was proud to work with BCBS of Mississippi Foundation to erect the outdoor play space.

“This looks like an ordinary playground, but, in reality, was purposefully designed incorporating the six elements of play along with inclusion and accessibility,” Barron said.

“It will help allow children to progress along the natural developmental continuum with beginning, intermediate and advanced levels of challenge throughout.”

Barron said through his firm’s collaboration with PlayCore, the business utilizes evidence-based design and research combined with the innovative products, programs and services to build healthy communities through play and recreation infrastructure.

Franklin County Superintendent of Education Chris Kent praised FCUE Principal Sandra Oliver for pursuing the playground grant through her vision for the campus and her students.

“It takes a little bit of extra effort to get nice things like this, and we appreciate everyone that had a hand in getting us to this point,” Kent said.

“There was an application and work on the front end by the principal and her staff, and it’s that extra effort that really makes a difference when it comes to educating our children. I remind everyone in our schools that taking the time to make an extra effort always pays dividends.”

Kent thanked the BCBS of Mississippi Foundation for choosing the Franklin County School District to receive what he called “a beautiful and wonderful playground.”

He also praised members of the FCSD’s maintenance staff, who helped with extensive site preparations for the playground — including removal of old playground gear and building an elevated dirt pad to support the new equipment.

Melissa Jenkins, a FCUE sixth grade instructor, in speaking for her teaching peer and students, said everyone was excited to see the playground finished and seeing old slides that had been in place for more than two decades replaced.

“If it wasn’t for everyone involved, those old slides would still be sitting there for another 20 years,” Jenkins said. “But now, we have this new equipment, and our children and possibly their children and grandchildren will have something to enjoy for years to come.”

Schools selected to receive these BCBS of Mississippi Foundation playgrounds did not have such equipment or had an existing playground that was aged and in disrepair.

Beside the choice of Franklin County Upper Elementary School, sites in Chickasaw, Coahoma, Harrison, Newton, Perry, Walthall and Washington counties were also selected as new playground recipients.

The grant also provides teacher education curriculum created as a best practices guide for promoting overall fitness and fun through the use of the outdoor play environment.

The Franklin County Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Color Guard presented the colors to start the program and drum line members of the Pride of Franklin County Marching Band along with the FCHS varsity cheerleaders helped open the event with a pep rally-style feel.

Details related to the work of the BCBS of Mississippi Foundation can be found at www.healthiermississippi.org.