An elementary school out in Goodrich is asking for help from wherever they can get it to buy its students a new playground.
It’s something Goodrich Elementary School students haven’t had in almost a year since the playground they had was deemed unsafe and had to be torn down.
So far, they’ve written grants, they’ve started fundraisers and they’ve even sent videos to Ellen and letters to Mattress Mack, but, they’ve only raised just under $6,000 of the nearly $30,000 they need.
The bell has rung. It’s recess - the time to finally go outside to a picnic table in a fenced-in field. The backyard of the elementary school is also the playground for the students who sit inside all day long.
“It’s a yard that we can play in," 5-year-old Zayden Robinson said.
There’s one thing missing, though: the very thing that makes a playground a playground was taken down last year.
“Spring of last year, our playground was deemed unsafe, had a lot of rust, holes, it was very old," Principal Dr. Kathryn Washington said.
But the kids still remember what it once was.
“There was slides, and there was swings," 6-year-old Khloee Smith said.
“One new tunnel thing, and there were Xs and Os," Robinson said.
“We could climb up on the ladder and slide down and play tag and everything," 8-year-old Cherish Chism said.
Today, they still play tag, and any other game they can think of.
“We have to kind of make up games like 'Loudhouse,' that one I made up," Chism said. "Somebody has to be that baby and all of the rest of the people are the siblings.”
For the older kids, their made up a game is called 'Infected.'
“If you get tagged you’re it with them, but the last person is going to be it," Bryce said.
But they’re getting tired of their empty field.
“We don’t have enough games to play, and they’re getting old," Chism said.
They know what they want: “I really want a playground," Smith said. "I want a swing, and a seesaw and a climbing bar."
But they know it’s expensive.
“I got a lot of piggy banks, but it’s not big enough," Robinson said.
For a town with a population of 271 and a school with 87 percent of economically disadvantaged students, money is not that easy to come by.
“We’re not going to ask strangers, but we’re going to ask people who are nice," Robinson said.
So they need help.
“We just want to have fun, and we want a new playground," Robinson said.
But they do know how to ask politely.
“Would you please, please, pretty please, just please just give us a playground? Please!” Chism said.
To get a basic playground and have it professionally installed, the school is hoping to raise around $30,000. They have started a GoFundMe page. If you would like to help, click here.