HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) - Children will be able to learn and play in a new and unique way thanks to a Hastings Kiwanis Club project.
As part of its musical playground project, the club plans to install musical playgrounds at all eight elementary schools in Hastings.
Michael Howie, one of the three leaders on the project, said most of the musical playgrounds include tubular chimes with mallets, a large babel drum and sambas. He said each of the schools were able to choose what instruments they wanted in their musical playground.
“They could choose from one or two ensembles,” Howie told The Grand Island Independent. “They could pick what made sense for them and their space. Hastings Public Schools all wanted the same ensemble because the teachers work together on curriculum. This way, it is more consistent.”
Howie said Hastings Kiwanis was looking for a project to do locally to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Initially, he said, the club wanted to install one musical playground at a Hastings park, but after the Hastings Kiwanis board discussed the idea, they decided to pursue a project to install a musical playground at every Hastings elementary school to allow them to be more accessible to children in the community.
Howie said once the group decided to proceed with the project, it approached two Hastings Public Schools music teachers, as well as principals and superintendents for all of the elementary schools. He said the club was given the “green light” to go ahead, but the project went from a $10,000 to $12,000 project to an $80,000 project.
In December 2019, Howie said, Hastings Kiwanis began fundraising for what it expected to be a two- or three-year project and sent a letter to the community. In response to the letter, the club raised about $25,000.
Howie said Hastings Kiwanis later received $10,000 from the Hastings Community Foundation; $10,000 from an anonymous grant; more than $32,000 through Give Hastings Day; and two $2,000 donations. He added some school Parent Teacher Organizations also donated to the project.
In May, Howie said, Hastings Kiwanis had enough money to order all of the instruments for the musical playground. Two months later, it had raised enough money to wrap up the entire project.
“We basically took a two- or three-year project and we did it in nine months - it is super exciting,” he said.
Greg Schultz, president of the Hastings Kiwanis Club, said the musical playground project has been successful due to the support it has received during the past few months.
“We’ve had an awful lot of support from the Hastings community through their donations and the support that we get from volunteers and monetary contributions,” he said. “We appreciate everyone who has been able to contribute and make this a successful project.”
Howie said the first musical playground was installed Aug. 3 at Zion Classical Academy. Playgrounds were installed Aug. 5 at Alcott and Longfellow elementary schools.
Last week, musical playgrounds were installed at Watson, Hawthorne, St. Michael’s and Lincoln elementary schools.
Hastings Kiwanis will wrap up its installations today at Adams Central Elementary School.
Howie said Hastings Kiwanis got “better every time” it installed a musical playground and that it took the group of about a dozen volunteers around five hours to install them. He said volunteers at each musical playground site began by digging holes for the instruments before placing them in the holes.
“Every installation is a little bit different, which I think is interesting and kind of fun,” Howie said. “Everybody has an idea of where the drum should go and where the tubular chimes should go.”
Howie said with COVID-19, the musical playground project takes on a new importance as music teachers are able to bring students outside to learn.
“For us and for kids, music is important to the curriculum,” he said. It is a great, creative play for kids and it helps reinforce what they are learning in the classroom. The music teachers are excited because they can take what they are doing in the classroom, come outside with the kids and teach, learn and play.”
Howie said the “great thing” about the musical playgrounds is they are open to the community, which means parents can take their children to play with them at any time. Schultz agreed.
“The playgrounds are all in public venues, so kids are able to come and use them any time,” he said. “The musicians at the schools particularly are glad because, with the environment we are in right now, outside learning is a real good thing and they are going to be able to use these (musical playgrounds) and build some curriculum around them, be outside and have fun.”
Howie said he hopes the musical playgrounds inspire kids to give music a try, to have fun with it, to be creative and develop an interest in it.
“It also is really good for their learning,” he said. “That creative-type exercise really helps grow the whole student. I think having that opportunity outside - where you have your playgrounds and your ball fields - helps exercise a different part of their (kids’) brain and helps them throughout the rest of their schooling.”
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