Recess can be the highlight of students’ day, when they’re set free from the confines of the classroom to hang with friends, work off excess energy and enjoy the outdoors. But as is the case with every element of education during a pandemic, recess at Sawnee Elementary in Cumming took a hit.
“Kids should be excited to go to recess,” said Principal Derrick Hershey. “But the very first week kids said, ‘Ugh we have to go to recess, and it’s so boring on the blacktop.’”
The “blacktop” is the paved area where buses park. With up to 10 classes per grade, the area was utilized during recess to keep classroom bubbles intact.
“We’ve had to really spread out and use all the space on our campus we haven’t used for recess before,” said third grade teacher Jessica Plouff. “Every class has an assigned location each week, and since not everyone can fit on the playground, the fields and blacktop became play spaces.”
But the blacktop was boring, Plouff acknowledged. “They had a couple of balls to play with, but there wasn’t much for them to do to get that energy out – which is what recess is for.”
PTO Treasurer Nicole Hale heard the complaints from her second grader and kindergartener.
“My kids came home and said, ‘We were assigned to the blacktop today, and all we can do there is chalk,’” she said. “So we started talking about a way to use that area to benefit kids and teachers. We found ideas online, took some pictures, showed them to the kids and took some votes.”
The voting and brainstorm resulted in the school’s hiring Dawsonville muralist Andy Burt who came up sketches for a ways to add activity areas to the blacktop.
“We couldn’t paint over the parking lines, but other than that, it was all up to us,” said Hale. “We added two areas where they can play with balls, an alphabet snake, two hopscotches, an activity area for jumping hurdles and sprinting. It turned into an adventure area for the kids.”
Parents have donated balls, dice and toys to pair with the painted activities. Some of the 1,400 students have taken to timing each other on the obstacle courses, a painted series of jumps, twists and hops.
“Now kids can’t wait to be on the blacktop,” said Hale. “The PE teachers were excited, too. The kids have so many more areas to play, and it’s brought so much joy.”
The project banished the boring blacktop, said Pouff. “It has transformed these spaces into a place where kids can play, be active and spread out,” she said. “It’s completely transformed a parking lot into a recess area that’s functional and fun.”
It’s also returned recess to its former popular status, said Hershey. “We wanted to do something really creative to have a space they were excited about going to, not dreading.”
Information about Sawnee Elementary is online at forsyth.k12.ga.us/sawneeelementary.
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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