The 12,000-square-foot playground - a combination of turtle slides, spider webs, tire swings and monkey bars - is showing wear and tear from constant use.

Wayne Lurix, playground coordinator for the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, said recruitment of volunteers through community organizations, churches and other groups has already begun.

"We hope to get at least 75 or 100,'' Lurix said.

"We will probably pressure-wash the playground, paint some of the areas that were not painted when it was built, and put pavers between the parking lot and the playground."

Refurbishing is set for April 24, Great American Cleanup Day.

The playground is located behind Mount Washington Elementary School, 1730 Means Ave.

Pam Sears, Mount Washington Community Council coordinator, said the cleanup will start at 8:30 a.m.

The playground was the first built in Cincinnati by the 1,000 Hands project. Volunteers came from throughout the Tristate and as far away as Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania to help with the job.

Many of the structures in the playground came from ideas suggested by children at Mount Washington Elementary school.

The playground has 36 wooden structures, most of them connected by chain and rubber bridges.

Engineer honored

Jun Huang, a geotechnical engineer for H.C. Nutting Co., Linwood, has received two special certificates from the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors.

Huang, of Mount Washington, received a certificate for achieving the highest grade in the state on the civil exam, and a second certificate for achieving the highest grade in the state overall on the principles and practice of engineering exam.

"It was a surprise to me,'' Huang said. "I had no idea that I would outscore everybody. I feel good about it. There were over 500 people taking the examination. It took about eight hours. I had studied three months for the examination.''

The certificates were presented in the Ohio Statehouse, where Huang was awarded his professional engineer's license.

Huang, 26, earned a master's degree in civil engineering from Ohio State University in 2001.

He recited the Engineer's Creed at the ceremony, promising "to participate in none but honest enterprise" and "to place service before profit, the honor and standing of the profession before personal advantage, and the public welfare above all considerations.''

The Engineer's Creed, adopted in 1954 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, is a standard part of the Ohio Engineering Certificate ceremonies.

Positively Kids: Full tuition scholarship

Daniel Zeinner is the recipient of a Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship providing full tuition and housing at Miami University, where he plans to study computer science. A senior member of the National Honor Society and swimmer at La Salle High School, Daniel has caddied at Miami View Golf Club for four years.

His older brother, Richard, who has also attended Miami on an Evans Scholarship, will graduate in May. The two are sons of Kathy and Richard Zeinner of Harrison.

Youth Leadership attendee

Highlands High School junior Bryson Modlin, of Fort Thomas, attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Law in Washington, D.C. He was selected to participate on the basis of his academic achievement and interest in the legal profession.

The program features visits to law firms and District of Columbia courthouses, various county circuit courts and some of our nation's most prestigious law schools.

Received bachelor's degree

Anderson Edwards, a Walnut Hills High School graduate, has received a bachelor's degree in art, majoring in theater, from the College of Charleston, S.C. He was twice nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship competition.

Edwards recently performed with The Actors' Center of Chicago Production Company in Raising Blue at the Footlight Players Theatre in Charleston.

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