Goose Creek Elementary just had a very exciting morning unveiling its brand-new inclusive playground to its students.
The playground, located behind the schools, is the first of its kind in Berkeley County School District. The district does have school playgrounds with inclusive equipment, but this is the first one of this size to be established.
Goose Creek Elementary celebrated the new playground with a special ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning. Principal Dr. Kellie Gebhardt said the playground is an incredible gift for her school’s students. VIEW PHOTOS.
“This was beyond anything that I could have ever imagined,” she said.
An inclusive playground means children of all abilities are able to access and play together on the equipment – a great example is the Park Circle Playground in North Charleston. Such playgrounds offer the opportunity for children to further develop their physical, cognitive and social skills through sensory play. Some of the highlights of Goose Creek Elementary’s new playground include sensory benches, a music corner, a swing set, slides, shady spots and more.
Gebhardt gave a special thanks to Keith Enos, BCSD’s Director of Facilities, and grounds supervisor Thomas Browder for their diligence in bringing the playground to life.
Also, as part of the festivities, Gebhardt recognized a handful of students in second through fifth grade who have had perfect attendance this school year; as a treat, they got to hold the ribbon for Gebhardt to cut, and then got to be the first students at the school to try out the playground.
The new playground is part of an ongoing district initiative to get more inclusive playgrounds established in BCSD. Enos said the district has 28 playgrounds across its elementary, intermediate and primary schools (and Fishburne Educational Center) and BCSD is budgeting to bring these inclusive playgrounds to the schools over the next few years, while also adding new inclusive equipment to some school playgrounds. Sangaree Elementary is slated to get a new playground this summer.
“We went out and checked every facility – all 28 – and we made a priority list,” Enos said. “We’re just trying to chip away at that priority list.”
The district worked with Barrs Recreation, which specializes in inclusive playground equipment, to design Goose Creek Elementary’s new playground.
“I think it came out great,” Enos said. “This is the first install this company has done for us, and they knocked it out of the park.”
