by Davy James, Staff Writer
The future of the Parks and Recreation Department in South Brunswick rests in good, albeit small, hands.
A group of elementary school students were awarded prizes on Dec. 20 in a contest for their sample design ideas for Friendship Park in South Brunswick. The contest was held at Indian Fields, Brooks Crossing, Greenbrook, Constable, Monmouth Junction, Brunswick Acres and Cambridge schools and was run by the Enrichment Support Services during a six-week class that met once a week.
”Teams and individuals created surveys to ask their classmates what they would like to see in a local park,” said enrichment teacher Samantha Siegelheim. “They used data from the surveys to help them make decisions about how they should design their park blueprints.”
The Enrichment Support Service has three teachers who each cover different schools in the district and teach arts and enrichment at a different school each day. The class is designed to teach K-5 students about problem solving in different areas, according to Ms. Siegelheim. The three Enrichment teachers, Michelle Downie, who covers Brunswick Acres and Cambridge; Christin Kaseta, who covers Constable and Monmouth Junction; and Ms. Siegelheim, who covers Indian Fields, Greenbrook and Brooks Crossing, nominated three designs, one from each one in their school zones. The teachers then worked together to determine who should win the district-wide contest, with assistance from the Parks and Recreation Department.
The winning students were Jordyn Young, a second-grader from Brunswick Acres, Joanna Kim, a second-grader from Brooks Crossing, and the team of third-graders Thomas Steele, Janet Chen and Shelley Wang and first-grader Sherya Murthy, all of Monmouth Junction. The winners were presented with silver star paper weights, award certificates and a $10 gift certificate from Barnes and Noble that were given by their Enrichment teachers.
”The kids were all very creative problem-solvers,” Ms. Siegelheim said. “They all thought outside of the box and had excellent designs.”
The winning designs were practical and included elements such as parking, restrooms, ponds and athletic fields, according to Ms. Siegelheim. The purpose of the contest was to teach problem solving and the children’s ideas won’t be implemented at the park.
”The designs were very colorful and vibrant with a realistic presentation,” Ms. Siegelheim said.
The winning designs will be displayed in the teachers’ classrooms, but Ms. Siegelheim said they hope to eventually display the designs at Friendship Park in the near future.