Three community partners came through in an effort to raise $15,000 for new playground equipment at the Open Door School in Lawrence County.

Intermountain Electronics in South Point donated $3,000. UK-King’s Daughters provided $5,000. The Kiwanis Club of Greater Ironton concluded a series of fundraisers Tuesday by reaching its goal to present the Open Door School with a check for the remaining $7,000.

Christina Kerns, who is in her second full year as principal of Open Door School, said one of the things she noticed when she arrived at her new school is that there are only five swings on the playground — three regular, one for small children and one wheel-chair swing.

“That’s for all the kids,” she said.

Teachers at the school had to put their students on timers to ensure they each had an opportunity to swing. While there is a stationary fire truck that doesn’t move but has seating and a small tunnel for students to enjoy, Kerns said there is no interactive playground equipment that is typically standard at other schools.

That need led Kerns to work with community partners to raise the funds to get the swing sets.

“I was shocked with how much it all costs,” Kerns said.

Open Door School Maintenance Director Jeff Townsend contacted a couple of businesses and drafted information for a proposal for Kerns. She said just to get a set with six swings is nearly $6,000. In addition, there are costs associated with site prep, which Kerns said costs more than the swings. 

“You have to purchase rubber swing mats and wood playground mulch,” she said. “It came out to $15,000. That’s without any labor costs and concrete.”

Once the swing sets are up, Kerns said there are plans to erect a sign to thank the sponsors. Moving from five swings to 11 will give students more individual play time — especially those with autism.

“The rhythmic motion of swinging creates a comforting and soothing experience for our students,” Kerns said. “It’s great for the teachers, too. They know the kids are getting that time to calm down. Students want to run around, swing and release all that energy.”

The goal, now, moves to finding someone who will do the excavation work. Kerns said that may be a struggle for Open Door School.

“Mr. Townsend has tried to talk to a couple of people,” she said. “Sean Davis (president of Kiwanis) did, too. I’m going to talk to someone over Christmas break to see if he would be available to come and do it.”

Kerns said after that is complete the focus moves to securing additional interactive playground equipment—like a jungle gym or a slide.

“We’re very minimal with what we have,” she said. “We have no funding for that.”

Davis said the Kiwanis Club made the decision in early spring to engage in fundraising efforts to offer $7,000 to the school for the playground equipment.

“I observed some kids at recess,” Davis said. “I saw the limited swing sets they have. They would have to stand in line and wait for one to get off for the other one to get on. As soon as we realized this need, that was our project.”

Members of the Kiwanis Club presented representatives of the Open Door School with the check at the Club’s Mingle Bells event held Tuesday evening.