Photo By Jessica Dambruch | Children, parents and Child and Youth Services staff enter the new CDC playground...... read more read more
Parents, employees and active-duty service members met at the Child Development Center on U.S. Army Garrison-Kwajalein Atoll April 26, 2022, for the grand opening of the facility’s new playground.
Designed to support Army accredited programs for the island’s youngest children, the playground project has been in development for the past six years. After being subject to delays exacerbated by the pandemic, it was recently completed by construction specialists from Lifecycle, Inc.
Lt. Col. Ben Jackson, director of USAG-KA logistics, thanked everyone present on behalf of Col. Tom Pugsley, USAG-KA commander, before cutting the celebratory ribbon draped over the playground’s chain link fence.
“We all know Kwajalein is one team and one fight. We have to make sure families are taken care of as well,” said Jackson. “I think this is a step in the right direction. … We thank everyone for their time and their effort.”
Following Jackson’s remarks, CDC children ran inside the playground to try out the new equipment for the first time.
Playground design has changed over the years. On Kwajalein, CDC children can now play under sheltering sunshades on durable plastic climbing equipment, swing sets, slides, and learning stations with built-in percussion equipment and water pumps.
Appreciating the differences in construction, Jackson shared some humorous anecdotes of playgrounds he enjoyed while growing up in New Mexico.
“My playground had the ‘dangerous’ merry-go-round that you’d try to hang on to,” he said. “The kids would try to fling you off. Also, those 15-foot swings that you’d jump off. We had basketball courts, and tetherball—and dirt.”
In contrast, the CDC playground is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It includes special accessibility features at entry points. Those who walk near certain climbing equipment will notice that the ground may feel different, too. It is covered in a springy, artificial turf to cushion potential falls and activate kinesthetic learning.
Work crews also poured a circular sidewalk to connect different play features and even built a platform to accommodate the roots of a well-established tree.
For CYS Coordinator Dr. Stephanie McCutcheon, the playground represents years of ongoing teamwork between contract crews and garrison personnel to improve an important space for learning and play on Kwajalein.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone for making this a priority, and for getting it done, so we can get these kids out here,” McCutcheon said. “Thank you, everyone.”
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2022 20:36 |
| Story ID: | 420426 |
| Location: | MH |
| Web Views: | 129 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Grounds for Learning: USAG-KA Child Development Center Receives New Playground, by Jessica Dambruch, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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