Swing, Swing

Irle School students received quite the surprise on Oct. 5 when they went out for recess and saw the newest addition to the Irle playground: swings. A number of volunteers, including community and PTO members in addition to the Glasgow football team, spent the past two weekends installing poles, pouring cement, spreading wood chips, laying down rubber mats and hanging the swings to provide students another activity to do while at recess. In addition to standard swings being installed, the playground will also house the first publicly handicap accessible swing in the community.

The project started on Sept. 26 when volunteers including Josh Thompson, Brandon and Mary Lynn Brunelle, Kim and Josh Turner, Dan and Nicole Cole and Kelli Campbell, helped arrange the poles and get the cement down. The following weekend, on Oct. 3, the Glasgow football team in addition to PTO members and community volunteers, came out to lay down wood chips and get the swings hung.

"This is what community is about. It bring tears to my eyes seeing all of these volunteers coming out to help," stated PTO president Kim Turner while marveling at the work that was being done on Oct. 3.

The project was approximately a year in the making after some detours along the way including the installation of a walking path as well as the installation of the safety fence, both of which encompass the playground. "Just for the sidewalk and swings, we fundraised and paid over $50,000," stated Turner.

Turner admits the swings would not have happened without community support leading up to installation and even during the installation.

"Sand Electric and Glasgow Rental allowed the use of their equipment to move the wood chips more easily. This truly was a community project and we are humbled by each and every person who donated their time, money, equipment, expertise and experience to make this project a reality for the students at Irle Elementary," expressed Turner. "Mr Sundby has been very supportive of all of our projects and so has the administration at the school."

The PTO is continuing to look forward to the next project, which is the installation of a three-sided shelter outside to provide students the ability to get out of the harsh elements northeast Montana can bring. "If it starts raining or snowing, or even windy, students have the ability to take some sort of shelter while at recess," explained Turner. Another long term project is to put down a rubber surface around the playground to provide better shock absorbency when playing.

In addition to fundraising for the improvements to the playground, the PTO has also provided mini grants, which allows a staff member to apply for $100 grant to use in their classroom or area to alleviate some of the out-of-pocket costs, provided lunch to honor fourth and fifth-grade straight A students in addition to providing Teacher Appreciation events. The PTO is still awarding mini grants to teachers this school year however are looking at different ways to honor teachers and students in the midst of COVID-19.

"We still want to be able to honor the straight A students. We are looking at different ways to do it this year. We are also trying to figure out a teacher appreciation event while maintaining social distancing," explained Turner.

As a way to finance upcoming projects, the yearly Charleston wrapping fundraiser will be sent home in a few weeks with the PTO receiving 50 percent proceeds of wrapping paper orders. This year, orders will be placed online and be shipped directly to the customer instead of being picked up at the school.

As a result of COVID-19 restrictions, the PTO has not yet met since school has started but plans are being made to have a virtual meeting later this month. Turner stated the PTO is always looking for ideas and have plans for the future. Turner welcomes anyone to get involved by following the Irle School PTO Facebook page, message them via their page or e-mail [email protected].