New playground is under way

Two Harding teachers wrote the grant.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Pupils at Harding Elementary School are getting a new playground to go with their new school thanks to the Youngstown Rotary and a grant from the Mahoning County Green Team.
In the early 1990s, the Youngstown Rotary started its Put Kids First program, aimed at helping Harding pupils.
"We started putting money away for new playground equipment," said Frank Kishel, co-chairman of the Put Kids First program.
Harding teachers Kathy Naples and David Bermann, who teach art and physical education, respectively, completed a grant application to the Green Team, using the Rotary funds as a match.
The grant and money raised by Rotary totaled about $100,000 that was used to buy the slides, climbing apparatus and other equipment made from recycled plastic.
"This was just a parking lot where the kids played," Naples said. "We decided they deserved a whole lot better."
Kishel of Boardman said volunteers from Rotary, the school, the scholars program at Youngstown State University and the Interact group from Ursuline High School spend several hours over the weekend working on the project. High school students from The Rayen School unloaded the equipment from the delivery truck last week.
Volunteers expect to return to finish the job this weekend.
Two playground areas
Principal Beverly Schumann said pupils are excited about the playground. The new school, located on the city's North Side, is expected to open late next month.
Kishel said volunteers are assembling one playground area for kindergarten and first-graders and a second one for second- through fourth-graders. He estimated that 50 volunteers have been involved with the assembling effort.
"Our motto is service before self, so we try to perform service for the community," Kishel said.
The playground project also doubles as the Youngstown Rotary's centennial project. This marks the 100th anniversary of Rotary International. The Youngstown club, which is in its 90th year, boasts bout 130 members, he said.
Another aspect of the club's Put Kids First program is mentoring Harding pupils, the number of which increased at the start of this school year when pupils from the former Martin Luther King elementary school began attending Harding.
Kishel said about 36 mentors spend at least one hour per month with a Harding pupil who has demonstrated potential. Activities include tutoring or just spending time with the kids. Three times a year mentors bring their charges to a Rotary lunch at the Youngstown Club.
He said the club chose Harding because of its urban setting and because many of its pupils are from lower income homes.
Over the past 90 years, Youngstown Rotary has contributed more than $1 million to local charities.
denise_dick@vindy.com