The natural playground rethinks the entire 16-acre grounds as a place for learning, exploration and play, according to Unit 5.
Colene Hoose Elementary School will soon be home to a “world class” natural playground with the project entirely funded by a donation from a Hoose alum.
Charlie Jobson, a longtime resident of Normal, offered the donation in honor of his parents. The Unit 5 school board on Wednesday night voted unanimously to accept the gift that totals about $5 million.
Unit 5 Superintendent Kristen Weikle said the project will be the first of its kind.
“When we say this is a world class natural playground, it is. I don’t think there’s any other U.S. public school in the entire country that will have something like what we have here in Bloomington-Normal,” she said.