Early Tuesday afternoon, all 800 Helena Elementary students filed outside and climbed the hill to their playground to take part in a celebration five years in the making.

The school recently finished installing $90,000 worth of additional playground equipment, including a swing set and slides. It took five years to raise the necessary funds, said Principal Mary Cooper.

Cooper said the equipment was necessary because it is specially made for small children. Helena Elementary originally housed grades K-5, so much of the playground equipment is appropriate for children that are ages 9-10. However, the school now holds grades K-2, so some of the old equipment is oversized.

“It’s too big for the little boys and girls,” Cooper said. “We needed more appropriately-sized equipment. And we’re so big, we needed more equipment.”

The children celebrated their new playground equipment by singing a song about playing on the playground and thanking community members who helped fundraise.

As a final touch, all teachers passed out tiny bottles of bubble mixture to their excited students. As Cooper gave the signal, hundreds of bubbles floated in the air.

“Good job,” a grinning Cooper said to the students.