Kassie Jones, Eugene Field before/after school program site director, was notified recently on being awarded the MFA grant to help construct an outdoor classroom and natural playground.
The new resource will provide more opportunities for students to do more activities outside in the area of an outdoor classroom and natural playground. MFA Oil provided a $2,000 grant to fund the improvements which are located at the south side of the Eugene Field campus, viewable from East First Street.
With this grant, there is a plan to have students from Northwest Technical School Building Trades Program build garden boxes. Then the plan is to have the after-school students plant flowers and other plants to learn more about the process of a plant cycle. The plan is to have the work completed by springtime.
“We hope to assist in other areas to improve our natural playground. This project is just a small component to a larger project,” said Jones.
All of Eugene Field Elementary and Maryville Early Childhood Center children will be able to use the natural playground during the school day.
“We offer child care for working parents during the school year from 6:30 to 7:30 am and 2:30 to 5:30 pm along with summer school during the month of June. We have a total of 163 students enrolled in first through fourth grades at Eugene Field and 49 kindergartners enrolled at our Maryville Early Childhood site,” said Jones.
She continued, “We offer academic support through tutoring, inspire educational opportunities with community members, and build social skills for children entering kindergarten through fourth grade. Many of our parents say they appreciate the convenience and safety of our childcare by not having to worry about transporting their children on/off a bus to a daycare.”
This program employs 15 students from Northwest Missouri State University who are pursuing a degree in the education field.
“We appreciate MFA Oil for awarding this grant to assist in making this project possible, concluded Jones.
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