Students at Back Bay Elementary are "thrilled" about their new playground, thanks to a donation from Cooke Aquaculture. (Submitted: Joel Richardson)
An elementary school in Charlotte County will get some much needed playground upgrades, thanks to a donation from Cooke Aquaculture.
$5,000 was announced last week for the Back Bay Elementary School.
Joel Richardson, VP of Public Relations at Cooke Aqua, says they will also be building a new nature trail and gazebo that will pay tribute to the fishing industry in Back Bay.
“The trail will actually be in the shape of a traditional fishing weir, and the gazebo will include a knot tying station to help children learn to tie knots that are commonly used in the fishing industry,” he said.
Richardson says having an outdoor learning space is just as important as having indoor learning spaces.
“We want children and the children of the parents that work with our company to be able to better understand their connection to the larger world and to the traditional historic fishing industry in the Back Bay area.”
He says this is the second time the Cooke family has donated money to the Back Bay playground, after it was vandalized earlier this year.
“It was really sad to see that the playground had been vandalized, and a number of our employees do live and work in the local community, so the Cooke family felt strongly about supporting the rebuilding of the playground,” he said.
The school hopes to have some work done before Christmas, and have the playground finished by the end of the school year next spring.
