RACINE, Wis. — Racine Case high school senior Jordyn Purnell has been busy working on making a 3-D printed model of two playground designs that could be voted on to be the next playground for students at Goodland Montessori. 

She and her teammates in her Engineering and Design class developed two designs over the last few months, complete with computer renderings and pitch websites, and now, the physical model is next on their to-do list.

On Thursday, the team was working to get the printer to print what would be a tire swing in real life. 

“This one’s going to take four hours and 40 minutes,” Purnell noted. 

The time it takes to print all of the aspects of their playground proposals is worth it, “because you’re able to see in a 3-D way that you know it’s going to work,” according to Purnell’s teammate, Matilde Llacer. 

Designing a playground sounds easy, but these students said otherwise. There are a lot of guidelines that have to be followed, especially when it comes to safety, that they didn’t know until they started working. 

“This playground is meant to be for children between four and six, so the first thing you have to have in mind is their safety,” Llacer said. 

Llacer and Purnell’s group have two similar proposals they will present to the school and the community in March to be voted on. 

One design has a tire mountain to climb, as well as a tire swing. 

The other idea keeps the tire mountain but adds a tunnel and bridge and replaces the swing with a wooden balance beam. There are also musical pots and pans that will be built around the perimeter of the playground. 

They’re not the only group designing playground ideas. Another group will present their idea to be voted on as well. 

“We made a slide for the kids to play on, and then a rock wall for a way for them to get up. I’m going to add another staircase probably,” senior Tyler Venne said, describing his computer rendering. 

All of the items the students will use to make the playground at the Goodland Montessori campus will be recycled and sustainable materials. 

It’s part of the requirements of their class, where the students had to find a real world problem, and come up with a solution. In this case, the problem was students at Goodland Montessori didn’t have a playground. 

Kate Buchholz, the Engineering and Design teacher, said it’s been a good way for the students to put the skills they’ve learned in their class to good use. 

“It’s hands on, it’s like, a thing somebody gets to use and enjoy,” Buchholz said. “It’s not just a project that’s going to be put in the trash after school. You know? It’s like, ’it’s there! I did that!'”

Buchholz added the hope is the playground will be built and ready to be played on before the school year is over. 

But, the students also need help fundraising. If you’d like to help, they’ve set up a website where you can donate to the cause.