The 700 students of Groveland Elementary School in Lake County are stuck in a tale of two playgrounds. Now a teacher is raising money to revamp one of them.

  • Groveland Elementary School teacher raising money for playground
  • Students complain about old playground offering little to do
  • Students switch between old, new playgrounds every few weeks

School officials call the playgrounds the new playground and the old playground.The new playground features an updated jungle gym. The old playground features a small slide set and a row of swings, some of them broken.

In order to give students a chance to play at both, they switch out grade levels every few weeks at each playground.  

Last year fourth grade teacher Kayla Coxe started an initiative to help revamp recess at the old playground.  

"I remember that being like a highlight of my day when I was a kid was to go out and play on the playground," said Coxe.  

She has been able to raise just under $1,000 for things like hula hoops, soccer balls and jump ropes, but wants to completely redo what's already there.  

"There's a lot of research behind the positive impacts of recess and without significant enough equipment, students aren't able to get that full recess effect," said Coxe.  

To help raise money, the city of Groveland will donate all proceeds from the Juice Jog 5k run/walk to help purchase the playground equipment.  

The race will be held November 8 at 8 a.m. at Lake David Park. Participants can register online on the Groveland website.