The children who attend Lincoln Elementary Technology Academy in Pittsburgh have never had a playground or safe outdoor play area at their school.
All that will change June 27 because of a project two IUP students coordinated in conjunction with IUP's Urban Program, an elementary education program that prepares students for inner-city teaching.
Jennifer Lyman (senior, professional studies in education) and Nicole Plazio (senior, professional studies in education), who realize the importance of playtime in educating children, decided they wanted to give students at LETA something they could both use and be proud of.
They began brainstorming in September at the beginning of their one-year student teaching experiences about how they could transform the students' current play area, a vacant lot connected to the school at 328 Lincoln Ave., into a playground.
This was an idea the school's community had already begun planning more than five years ago, but Lyman and Plazio decided it was time to resurface the plans and find a way to put them into motion.
The answer came in the form of a grant from Build-A-Bear Workshop in partnership with KaBOOM!, an organization that "envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America."
"KaBOOM! helps build playgrounds throughout the United States and finds funding partners for potential projects," Lyman said.
Lyman and Plazio, along with the students, teachers, parents and community members in the LETA Playground Project Committee, were partnered with Build-A-Bear after submitting a KaBOOM! application in January.
"Build-A-Bear Workshop is building 10 playgrounds across the United States for their 10-year anniversary," Lyman said, "and Lincoln was chosen to be one of them."
Although Plazio is not allowed to publicly disclose the specific amount of the grant, she said they are "very close" to reaching their goal of $100,000.
Other donations have also come from several businesses, such as Home Depot, and organizations such as the Junior League, Kappa Delta Pi, the Co-op Store as well as IUP staff and students.
Paper bears, which will be displayed at the playground during its construction, are on sale at the Co-op store for $1 to benefit the project.
"Also, if someone chooses to make a $25 donation, a bronze bear will be hung up; $50, a silver bear; $100-499, a gold bear; and $500 plus, a platinum bear," Lyman said.
In an attempt to plan what exactly to do with the funds, the committee met Thursday to create the design for the playground that they hope will promote active lifestyles and stimulate creativity.
At the meeting, LETA students, aged 5-12, helped design their "dream playground" with equipment vendor Playworld Systems and met their KaBOOM! project manager and several Build-A-Bear representatives.
"The Build Day is Wednesday, June 27," Lyman said, "and we invite anyone who is in the area to come and help build the playground."
The playground will serve more than 700 students in the East End of Pittsburgh, Plazio said.
"The school is 97.44 percent African-American, .28 percent Hispanic, and 2.28 percent multi-racial, and is in an impoverished area, which is considered one of the poorest in the district."
Although Plazio and Lyman coordinated the playground planning, Plazio said that no one person or even group of people can take credit for this community-based project.
"It has taken a group effort to come this far in such a short amount of time," Plazio said. "A project like this can take years to complete, and we have managed to fit it all into about nine months of hard work."
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