With Math, Models, and Teamwork, Fourth Graders Create Cool New Playground Designs

Carrie Jones

Jun 03, 2025

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The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Links Pub.

BAR HARBOR—It started with a pile of rubble where their playground used to be, and a question they longed to answer: What would it look like next?

So the fourth graders at Conners Emerson School decided to find out. Armed with rulers, computers, and clipboards, they became designers, researchers, and presenters—turning their end-of-year project into a scaled vision for the school’s future playground.

On Monday, they stepped up before a room full of school board members, parents, and teachers to share what they’d created: a playground built not just with numbers and models, but with thought, care, and collaboration.

They had a budget. They had the internet. And they had a lot of ideas.

The fourth graders at the Conners Emerson School put all that to work to create designs for the new playground at their new school.

On top of that, they presented their ideas to a library full of school board members, their principal, their vice principal, the school superintendent, reporters and parents.

Whew.

If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it was, but the students handled it all like pros.

They compared other island playgrounds, talked to stakeholders, did internet research on cost. And they did a lot of math using area, perimeter, and money management determining how to fill up the designated 177×428 ft. area.

“It started with our playground being torn down and then the project started and it started with blasting which was really fun,” fourth-grade teacher Heather Dority said. “It created quite a conversation throughout the year.”

The students asked where their new playground would be. What would it look like?

“That’s really how this project came about,” Dority said.

“Fourth grade is designing a new playground,” one student explained at the beginning of the session.

It was a lot of work.

The students worked in groups of two or three.

“We then had a ‘gallery walk’ to look at everyone’s design and layout. They then voted on their top 3 designs. The winning groups were Sam and Jack; Petya and Ewen; Lila and Clara,” Dority explained.

Learning via projects is a teaching method that is a bit more dynamic than everyone sitting at desks memorizing or even listening. Delving into a project requires exploration—an exploration of a challenge or problem or a creation like a playground.

Students investigate. They problem solve. They delve into math and design and creation to work on something that might be quite complex with multiple components.

“This real life engaging math problem was a great way to end the year. We gave the students the expectations for the project and then asked them what they needed,” Dority said. “Using their list of stakeholders, they decided to get some data from different grades; think about what they like about playgrounds and what our playgrounds were missing; and how to design a playground that was safe and fun.”

And it worked.

“There was a lot of investment in this project. Students had to collaborate, meet deadlines, and if they wanted to win, be realistic in their designs. They were also super surprised at the cost of playground equipment, leading to discussions about respecting equipment in the future,” Dority said.

“Our fourth graders have put such thought and effort into their presentations,” said Principal Dr. Heather Weir Webster. “They didn’t just add what they wanted, but reached out to different stakeholders to better understand what designs would work for the entire school. I am blown away by their creativity and hard work. And a huge thank you to the teachers who made this amazing learning experience possible.”

Those teachers were Dority, Meggie Curtis, and Meryl Sweeney.

Applause punctuated every student speaker’s concluding remarks and many of the fourth graders hugged each other right after they spoke.

Dr. Webster has consistently said throughout the process that students’ input would be part of the playground’s creation.

About 30.7% of Bar Harbor residents voted June 13, 2023, with a 1,005 to 502 vote in favor of constructing new buildings to replace the deeply ailing Conners Emerson buildings. That construction entailed the town taking out a $58 million bond.

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Upcoming Events:

• 8th Grade Cadillac Mountain hike June 3
• Field Day on Wednesday, June 4
• 4th Grade Promotion on Thursday, June 5 at 1:15 pm
• 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony on Thursday, June 5 at 4:30 pm
• Last Student Day on Monday, June 9 (early release)

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