Mountain City Elementary to get new playground equipment, gym remodel

At the school board meeting on April 13, the board announced Mountain City Elementary would be receiving new playground equipment this summer.The new playground equipment will be paid for in part with a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) grant and partially by the school itself.According to Director of Schools Mischelle Simcox, $50,000 of the original $100,000 from the TVA grant was used to upgrade to more efficient HVAC equipment, and $15,000 was set aside to replace the school's baseball fence and update the dugouts, leaving $35,000 for the playground remodel.The new playground equipment will be purchased from Playworld through Sourcewell, the state bidding platform, in the amount of $42,512. Since the $35,000 from TVA wasn't enough to cover the complete cost of the equipment, Mountain City Elementary raised an additional $18,000 through a recent Stampede fundraiser to put towards the shared goal of a new playground.Mountain City Elementary School staff sought to involve the students in the allocation of the TVA funds. Principal Gay Triplett reported that "the teachers polled their students regarding their preference on how the money should be spent on upgrading the playground."One third-grade teacher relayed the results to Triplett, saying, "My class came up with some very specific requests. They are so excited."Per the students' recommendations, the playground renovations will include a new fence around the baseball field, updated dugouts, two new soccer goals, pads under all 12 swings, a re-painted basketball court, new basketball goals, and fresh mulch. Triplett said that the plan is also to replace a twenty-seven-year-old playground structure with new equipment that includes a bridge and spiral slide."The playground and fence project benefits the students of MCE by replacing our dated equipment with new and safer equipment for all students and the community to use," Simcox said.Triplett expects the updates to the playground and baseball field to be complete by mid-July.Mountain City Elementary is also closer to finalizing another project: the gym renovations. Anyone who has driven past the school recently will notice that the construction zone shows more and more progress by the day.Simcox gave an update on the proposed gym interior remodel at the school board meeting. The mock-ups included several wall murals containing grayscale mountains and a large maroon Longhorn logo. The murals also feature phrases with double meanings that the studentsdeveloped themselves, including "Learning Understanding Growing" and "Encourage Outstanding Capability.""It's getting very exciting," Simcox said when presenting the mock-ups before the board. "This brings it all into perspective."Mountain City Elementary students will undoubtedly be excited to return to school this fall, with new playground equipment to enjoy. In the meantime, Roan Creek Elementary will host any summer events while Mountain City Elementary's gym is rebuilt.