Kreft Primary students celebrate new inclusive playground at school board meeting

At the start of its Oct. 6 meeting, the Lewis Central Community School District Board of Education heard a short presentation and saw a video celebrating the opening of an inclusive playground at Kreft Primary School.

Mrs. Jensen, identified in the meeting as the principal at Kreft, brought two students, Lucille Rosenberg (first grade) and Claire Sorensen (kindergarten), to the microphone to describe features of the new playground. The students named favorite pieces including two-person swings, an eight-person teeter-totter, a large "sensory dome" net-climb, inclusive "buddy" swings and multiple slides. Students described the surfacing as "fake grass turf" and said it felt "squishy" (soft) and did not become muddy.

Mrs. Jensen said teachers were excited to move students from the field onto the playground and that the smaller footprint makes supervision easier. She noted that inclusive pieces had been added in the planning process and that fence removal, grass growth, and additional finishing touches would follow as the site is completed. The playground had opened that Tuesday and students had already used it several times.

The board showed a short video and recognized the students. No board action was required for the item; it appeared on the agenda as a commendation/good-news segment.