“If you’re not improving your facilities every year, you’re behind,” Ken Crawford says as he takes me through the playground installation in progress at Highland Elementary School in Riverside.  As we pause to admire the newly poured concrete stairs and accessible walkways at the entrance to the school, kids rush up to the Superintendent repeatedly to greet him and wish him a happy birthday. 

Great progress has been made on the $1.4 million project that began this June.  A large lot of what was once broken-up asphalt is now a smooth black canvas with fresh paint lines, spaces to play four-square, basketball, and Chutes and Ladders. 

“This is one of the things they wanted,” Crawford says as we pause to watch the students throw the dice and advance their own bodies over the enormous painted gameboard.  “They’re playing together.  They’re cooperating.  They’re explaining it to each other.”

“There’s a lot more going on in playgrounds than what people think,” he says as we survey the grounds.  “We’re just trying to make sure that we’re progressive and not falling behind.  That’s the whole thing.  If you’re not building, if you’re not moving, you’re falling behind.  If you’re not moving forward, you are truly going backwards.”

The students selected most of the playground equipment installed in the new playground.  A soft, spongy groundcover feels pleasant underfoot. 

As we continue walking around the school, a perfect baseball diamond comes into view, like a mini Field of Dreams, bordered by corn.  Soon the raw dirt will be seeded with grass.

“They can play kickball, baseball, football, tag, anything,” Crawford says of the fields that will eventually be finished and open to students.

“If we can improve what we have, I think it’s also going to improve our classrooms,” he says.  “We’re very, very conscious of how important it is for good play and good recess and good music.  Those are the things that help them refocus in the classroom.”

On the opposite side of the school, much work remains to be done.  The area has been cleared for a separate playground for the preschool. 

“We’re going to have that spongy surface with more games just for preschool.  We’ll have it fenced in.  Drop off and pick up will be better.  There will be more grass, more trees.  They’ve got some of the playground equipment here already,” Crawford says.

With two of the three main playground areas near completion, the front of the school and its flanking playgrounds is taking shape.  When work is complete, and landscaping is filled in, a clean, inviting outdoor space will reveal itself.  It will be filled with a diverse range of recreational activities for the students, to stimulate their minds and develop their characters.

Adults in the community will find themselves agreeing with Crawford.

“If I was a kid, this would be awesome.”