HANCOCK COUNTY - Safe places to play are vital to South Mississippi's recovery from Hurricane Katrina, first lady Laura Bush told a crowd Thursday at an elementary school here.

Bush and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings visited Hancock North Central Elementary to help cut the ribbon on a new playground built by KaBOOM!, a 10-year-old nonprofit organization that has donated nearly 1,000 playgrounds in the U.S.