Ask a child what makes a playground perfect and the “no, duh” explanation you’ll probably get is “One that is fun and where anybody can play.”
This is the student-friendly attribute our the ESD playground action embraced when it began its work a few years ago to replace the playground for students with severe disabilities on the westside of our ESD.
So, you can imagine the excitement when the new playground was dedicated and launched last July.
Literally ANY BODY is able to access and enjoy the new Jim Dittmer playground today.
Fantastic!
“I can truly say that, in the year we’ve had it, our students have used the playground every school day that the weather permitted,” said Lisa Hayes, who is the lead teacher in a class of nine students with multiple impairments that are severe.
Five of Lisa's students use wheelchairs and would not have full access to a regular playground.
“There are picnic tables out there so we’ve even been able to occasionally socialize and have lunch and snacks together on the playground," Lisa noted.
The ESD's special education teachers were pleased that during the past academic year, 100 percent of their students were essentially using the new playground every school day.
Lisa said this was important because teachers often coach students in activities designed to improve balance, strength, coordination, and other physical skills.
“Playing is a great way to build rapport,” she said. “I was a new teacher here last fall. Playing together on the playground was a fun and effective way for the students to get to know and trust me.”
Accessible playgrounds typically feature ramps in place of stairs, even in climbing structures.
There are basket swings that can carry a wheelchair, wide walkways with rails or grab bars, sensory-stimulating play panels, areas that promote social interaction and separate “quiet zones,” and a mixture of uncovered and shaded areas. A recycled rubber playing surface protects against serious injuries from falls.
The one-year-old ESD playground incorporates all of these.
Possessing these characteristics make it accessible to children with disabilities but also make it popular with general education students and their families.
The playground is fenced because the WSESD campus is on a highway, but it’s never locked.
"We invite students and families to use our playground when school is not in session," said ESD Superintendent Dr. Jason Jeffrey.
A little history about the playground
The West Shore ESD provides professional expertise and resources to support the educational, physical and emotional growth of the 1,400 students in Lake, Oceana and Mason counties who have diagnosed disabilities.
Most of the time the necessary support can be provided right back in the school district that services the student’s neighborhood.
However, for the 45 or so students with the most severe impairments, the ESD provides center-based programs on its own campus.
Jim Dittmer, the playground’s namesake, has served on the WSESD Board of Education since 1980. In the 1970s Dittmer worked with the Mason County Retarded Children’s Association, which was influential in the 1974 purchase of the property where the WSESD campus now stands.
“This wonderful new playground in one more example of how we all strive to serve together in partnership with our member school districts,” he said.
A steel playground for students with disabilities was installed in 1975, but the playground received only minimal updates said Kerri Harrie, Assistant Superintendent for Business Services, who served on the recent playground planning committee.
As part of the construction of the new playground, for example, the playground’s old slide was off limits due to safety concerns and now, a new wavy, roller-coaster-like slide is very popular with the students she said.
Recently, a large carnival with inflatable bounce houses and face painting was held at the new playground in May for all students in the three-county area who received special education services.
"Hosting this event allowed us to introduce the new playground to children with mild impairments," said Lisa. "The students and families were elated and I'm sure they'll be back. That's what we hoped for!"
