(04/28/25) GREENSBURG, La. — Families in Greensburg, Louisiana, have a new place to play, exercise and spend time together thanks to the opening of a pocket park next to the track at St. Helena College and Career Academy.

The park was made possible through a partnership between the LSU AgCenter’s High Obesity Program (HOP) team, Louisiana Healthcare Connections and the St. Helena Parish School District. The new playground is open to the public and was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 10 that featured special guests from the St. Helena Early Learning Center, who were among the first to try out the equipment.

“This park gives families a safe and fun space to enjoy while promoting physical activity,” said Kelli Joseph, superintendent of the school district. “Parents can walk the track while their kids play. The children are getting exercise without even realizing it. They’re just having fun.”

The pocket park and walking track are open to the community in the evenings, typically between 4 and 7 p.m., outside of school hours and football season practices. Community members are encouraged to use the space to stay active and enjoy the outdoors.

Josie Butler, principal of St. Helena College and Career Academy, hopes the park will bring people together.

“We want this to strengthen the bond between the school and the community,” she said. “This is about building public confidence and encouraging conversations and fitness for everyone.”

Creating the park was no small task. The site required major landscaping work to level the ground before the playground could be installed. Scott Galmon, facilities and maintenance supervisor for the school, played a big role in preparing the area.

“When we started, there was a hill with an old tree stump,” Galmon said. “We had to bring in dirt and make the ground safe and flat. Now it looks great and shows kids that we care about the environment they learn and play in.”

The pocket park has already become a popular gathering spot, especially during football games, when younger children play there while parents and older siblings attend events. Galmon said it’s exactly what they hoped for.

“It’s doing its job,” he said. “It’s a fun, safe place for kids, and it will only keep growing from here.”

Jamila Freightman, the AgCenter’s HOP program manager, said the team is proud to have contributed to creating this new community asset for Greensburg.

“For the past seven years, working in Greensburg has been a joy, and the St. Helena Parish School District has been one of our strongest partners,” Freightman said. “Although it has been a labor of love, we’re so happy to see the kids enjoying the pocket park by the high school track and a joint-use policy implemented by the school district.”

A joint-use policy is an agreement that allows the community to use facilities like school playgrounds and athletic fields outside of school hours. The joint-use policy in St. Helena Parish aims to maximize the use of public resources, promote community engagement and provide additional recreational and educational opportunities for residents.

The HOP program is funded through a cooperative agreement between the AgCenter and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For more information about community health projects in St. Helena Parish, contact Isabel Zebrick, AgCenter Nutrition and Community Health agent, at izebrick@agcenter.lsu.edu or 225-222-4136.

Students from the St. Helena Early Learning Center and representatives from the St. Helena Parish School District, LSU AgCenter and St. Helena College and Career Academy celebrated the new pocket park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 10, 2025. Photo by Ruthie Losavio/LSU AgCenter

St. Helena Early Learning Center students enjoyed the new pocket park during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photo by Ruthie Losavio/LSU AgCenter

Visitors can follow simple exercise prompts and find out how far they walked using fitness signs along the track next to the new pocket park. The fitness signs are available to communities throughout Louisiana through the LSU AgCenter Healthy Communities initiative. Photo by Ruthie Losavio/LSU AgCenter