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Posted October 30, 2023
Parkview Elementary School students are enjoying new play structures in the school nature center, thanks to a Plymouth Education Foundation grant and the Plymouth High School technology education department.
“The added play structures are busy and used daily during recess or other times that teachers take kids out,” said third-grade teacher Julie Kohlmann. “Imaginations and play-enriched socialization are actively growing – and all in the best place possible for healthy kids to be: between the green below their feet and the blue sky overhead!”
Mrs. Kohlmann, also Parkview’s garden champion, received a $2,500 foundation grant for the project. “I am so grateful to the PEF for funding the additions to Parkview’s nature center through the grant program,” she said. “With the PEF grant, we were able to add a sandbox/cafe, play car, stage, rowboat, updates to the grapevine arbor, and a play school area.”
She also is grateful for a partnership with Plymouth High School tech ed teacher Beau Biller, whose students constructed the sandbox, toy car, arbor updates, and sign. “He was part of the project from the very beginning,” Mrs. Kohlmann said. “He runs an impressive program, and it is great to have that kind of cooperative learning.”
Before the upgrade, Parkview’s nature center had evolved over the years to feature an open area with mostly trees around its perimeter, and a grapevine arbor.
“The grapevine arbor has two benches inside; I love watching kids flipping them over, turning them into buses, cars, beds, whatever the imagination needs,” Mrs. Kohlmann wrote in her grant application. “My current proposal is rooted in that type of creative, imaginative play. Watching kids work together on a common goal – having opportunities for communication, managing conflict, assigning roles, and teamwork – is a type of magical, natural learning opportunity that fosters social/emotional growth.”
The Plymouth Education Foundation established its grant program in 2016 to provide seed money to fund innovative initiatives that enhance the educational experience for students in the Plymouth School District. Since then, it has supported 95 innovative ideas with grants worth more than $119,000.
• Visit the Plymouth Education Foundation grants webpage.
• Explore the Wellness section of our interactive, award-winning District Report Card to learn more about our focus on healthy living for kids.
