HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Playing on the playground is what many kids look forward to during the school day. But what about the students who don’t have that?
One group of elementary school students came up with a much needed inclusive playground project for their school.
For six months now, Brooklyn McClure and her sixth-grade peers have been working on Operation Outdoor Space. It’s a project to create an all-abilities playground at their school. After doing research, McClure found there are many benefits to playtime.
“Being outside can decrease mental disorders and obesity, diabetes and stuff like that, and that was definitely a big part in all of this,” said McClure.
It’s finally time for McClure and her group to present the project to their sixth-grade gifted SOAR class. They shared how they defined the problem, collected info, brainstormed ideas and presented it to their stakeholders. After that, they began the designing process.
“At the beginning of the project, Ashlynn and I had worked on this app called Tinkercad, and we basically made a whole bunch of models of this stuff before we put it right here,” she said.
A mini library, a play area and a mural are just some of the things in their outdoor space. McClure’s group will be working with two other groups to come up with the final outcome. Once completed this outdoor space will be built right outside of Studebaker Preschool.
“I definitely enjoyed this part the most because I found it really fun to be able to color and create everything and kind of see it all come together,” she said.
The class received a $12,500 grant to fund the project. Ohio Stem Learning Network gave $5,000, another $5,000 came from the Ohio Education Association and $2,500came from the Studebaker School.
It’s expected to be complete in the next year or so. They hope that this all-abilities playground will not only make every student feel welcome, but become something that everyone can be excited about.
“We want kids to be able to come out here and play because as you can see there’s not much over here,” she said. “So, we really just want more things that everyone will be able to play with.”
