Spartan sprouts, go and play!

While everyone knows WS is a high school, many are not aware that it also harbors a preschool. Preschool is a time of snacks, naps—and of course, having free time to play. In years past, however, the playground the preschool has been using was inadequate and unsafe.

This was accidentally discovered this past summer, and a brand new playground was installed almost instantly.

“[The new playground] just kind of fell in our lap,” said Early Childhood Education teacher Heather Sullivan. “I asked the county to come in and look at our mulch in the hopes of getting it replaced, but when they saw the type of playground we had, they realized it wasn’t up to code and that we needed a new one.”

The county had decided on a new standard for playgrounds, which meant the WS playground was eligible for an update.

“It’s part of a county initiative. They are trying to make all of the playgrounds in the county meet federally mandated standards,” said Director of Student Activities Andy Muir.

The installation of the new playground was quick and efficient, and went more smoothly than anyone could have hoped for.

“It took about two weeks to install it, but that was partly because of the weather. The flooring needed to be dry, and we had a few days of rain,” said Muir.

The playground was completed in August, just in time for the upcoming school year.

“They worked so quickly to install it. The green base was hand-laid and they had to wheelbarrow it in. They came in on the teacher workdays before school started, and they brought everything in load-by-load. It was really cool to watch them do it,” said Sullivan.

So far, the class has nothing but positive reviews about the new playground.

“The kids love it,” said junior Rachel Ward, a student of the Early Childhood Education class.

The students of the class are responsible for the education and fun of the preschoolers, and work closely with the kids. They were quite emphatic about the success of the playground.

“[The new playground] is a lot better than the old one. It’s much safer, and there’s so much more for the kids to do,” said Ward.

Taking into consideration how wildly popular this new playground is, it would appear that it is here to stay for a long time.

“We’re going to use it as often as we can for daily free play. The preschoolers are having a blast,” said Sullivan.