Making a difference through play

A couple of weeks ago, I witnessed the conclusion of a project that continues to validate for me the importance of the work that CityBridge Foundation is doing in education. Two of my colleagues had for weeks been organizing a playground build at a local DC public school. While the school had playground equipment for the older children who attend the school, the three- and four-year-olds had only an empty fenced-in area where they could play with balls and hula-hoops. The staff at one of CityBridge's corporate partners would build an arts-themed playground for these kids over the course of two days, with the support of an organization called Learning Structures, which specializes in building playgrounds. I'd heard about the design for the playground: a large wooden play structure with towers, a climbing wall, a stage and a slide; a four-sided chalk easel; and a set of musical pipes that made noise when struck with a wooden block. But when I went to help out at the event with a few other CityBridge staff, I was blown away not only by the magnitude of the project but the dedication of the roughly 30 corporate volunteers.

On the Thursday before the build, I helped to haul what seemed like an endless pile of lumber from where it had been delivered down the street to the front of the school, in preparation for the volunteers to come on Friday. It was definitely hard work, but so fun to get out and work at the school; curious kids, parents, and teachers passed by every once in a while and asked us what we were up to, and were clearly excited when we told them we were building a playground.

I didn't attend the build on Friday, but when we pulled up at 7 am on Saturday morning, the frame of the playground structure was standing tall outside the school, the easel was almost completely together, and the music structure was finished. There was definitely a lot more work to do, though: putting together the floor of the stage, securing railings to the play structure, sanding and sealing the wood, affixing the slide. It was so awesome to see the volunteers pulling up early on a Saturday morning and getting so engrossed in the work. It was a long day, and I spent most of it either sanding or painting (no power tools for me!), or lending a hand on various other projects when needed. It was amazing to me that by 3 pm that afternoon, the entire playground had been finished: we watched as the last piece of wood was drilled into place, and then stood back to admire the work. The stage was the best part - on the back, one of the volunteers had painted a beautiful mural based on a Dr. Seuss drawing. A few teachers, the school principal, and a couple of kids with their parents were there throughout the day. It was incredibly gratifying to see the kids take a first ride down the bright red slide, and run across the play structure from tower to tower.

I was completely impressed with the powerful show of dedication and drive that got this playground built over the course of just two days. In a very tangible way, it showed how making a difference in the education of DC's children can occur in broad policy sweeps (a new teacher's contract, or a tougher teacher evaluation system, to name two), but also through smaller acts...like creating an amazing play space for a group of deserving kids.