Courtesy of Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Area Schools Volunteers help prepare the new T.R. Davis Elementary School playground. The school, parent-teacher organization and other community groups are collaborating on putting the new playground together.

DOLLAR BAY — Traditionally, an elementary school student’s favorite sound is the recess bell.

But when Carrie Meneguzzo’s fourth-grade students at T.R. Davis Elementary School would come back to class, they were “crabby and dejected,” she said.

“They would say ‘It’s so boring out there. We don’t want to go to recess, there’s nothing to do,'” said Meneguzzo, now a fifth-grade teacher. “Recess is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, and the kids were not happy. We started looking at what we could do to make it better.”

They found answers. Through a mix of school funding, grants, volunteer donations and people pitching in, the elementary school is upgrading to a modern playground to keep kids enjoying recess for decades to come.

Meneguzzo started by surveying the children on what they wanted. That wish list gave the school a direction. The school’s parent-teacher organization started raising funds, and adding things little by little. All told, the PTO has contributed $24,000 to the project so far, Meneguzzo said.

With help from Career and Technical Education students, they built an octoball pit. Wildwood Powder Coating pitched in on the balls themselves. Portage Health Auxiliary contributed the dropshot game.

The school kicked in funds for a new play structure with a Netplex and two large slides. The school and PTO added special play turf that will cover the octoball pit, the areas under the swing set and play structure and a new soccer field.

The Copper Shores Community Health Foundation provided a grant for a new concrete basketball court. Wuebben Construction stepped in to lead the construction. Aided by dozens of helpers from the community, they also added concrete sidewalks around every zone of the playground.

“I’m just super, super thrilled that we’ve had an incredible volunteer force coming in and offering not only time, but expertise, and also material, food, and other donations,” said Superintendent Christina Norland. “Some seriously skilled people have been here day after day, hour after hour, leveling the ground, making concrete forms and pouring, and doing everything that is necessary to get this job done. We can’t thank them enough.”

Most of the playground should be done by Friday, Norland said.

The kids are already buzzing about the new additions, Meneguzzo said.

“They’re super-excited, and they can’t wait to get out there,” she said.