Stories from Playful Builds
Sometimes were are lucky enough to have people send us send us letters about how their builds went. Here's one of them
Dear Jane,
I have been so busy getting in to our first weeks of school, that I have not had a chance to thank you once again for all you did for our school. Today, I brought my camera to school and took "action" photos of the students on all of our equipment. Even added a picture of my partner teacher utilizing the teacher bench with flowers in full bloom around her.
The first day of school, we did not play on the playground, we just "window shopped" from the upper playground. It had been raining quite a bit, and we were afraid the mulch would still be soggy. But on Tuesday, August 29, just 1 month ago, the "groundbreaking" occurred. I walked my students to the edge of the grass. I reviewed all the rules, and I started the count..."on your mark, get set, go." NOBODY MOVED! For what seemed like 10 minutes, all of the students just stood in awe of the magnificence of our playground. Then they slowly started letting out shouts, and yelps, and feet began running like ants spilled out of a jar. They ran to every item just to touch it. Then they stopped at their favorite one and started to play. The slides filled with shrieks, the swings created their own breeze, and that -wonderful climbing dome could hardly be seen as it became blanketed with laughing children. The tether ball claimed it's first victims, the crazy basketball goal confused even the best free-throw shooters, and legs swayed like trees from the monkey bar track. Nobody fought over turns, everyone stood in line on ladders to go up or down without complaint, just big ear-to-ear smiles.
Worlds of Fun, 6 Flags Over Anywhere, cannot compete with the joy on the faces of our students playing on our new playground. If a student seriously misbehaves in the cafeteria, or in any class, the entire staff is in agreement that it is severe enough to deny them time on the equipment, and they must "sit on the bench" to serve their punishment. Needless to say this is a bonus that we did not expect to have such an impact, and you do not see many "benchwarmers" on a daily basis!
I was moved to 1st grade this year!--a grade I have never taught before, but I am having a wonderful experience. It doesn't matter however, whether Kindergarten, 3rd, or 5th, all students are soon in Wonderland, Never-Never Land, Narnia, or skipping down the Yellow Brick Road when their feet touch the playground grass. The maps are so colorful, and "just like our books". The trash cans on the playground are utilized every minute. No stray trash decorates our school grounds like it used to. And best of all, no one has even tried to deface the new doors on the dumpsters' hiding place. The paint is as fresh as it was on June 8th. Oh yes, the picnic tables are soooo pretty, some teachers were afraid to use them at first! They maintained their beauty throughout our summer weather.
Well Jane, you started my author juices flowing again, just describing the experiences of our KaBoom playground. I will try to get my "action" photos to you in the mail in a week. I hope your voice doesn't give out on your next builds. Take care, people are blessed to have you on their planning teams. Hope they know how valuable you are, we do.
Love and Laughter from Bryant Elementary,
Vicki Saviano
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