Hopefully all of your Thanksgiving’s were filled with turkey or tofurkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, pecan pies and very good company. For many of us here at the Recovery School District the week of Thanksgiving was saturated with post hole diggers, table saws, bright purples, greens, yellows and blues, mulch, the cupid shuffle, red beans, flare, hard work, and ultimately a complete new playground for Coghill Elementary. So many volunteers came out the day after Thanksgiving to work with the Coghill school community, AmeriCorps, dedicated volunteers, State Farm and the Bayou Classic to provide the Cougars with a new play space to fill the once vacant field behind the school. Not only did everyone work together to build this playground, but also new benches, picnic tables, a double shade structure, and art were all added to the site. State Farm and the Bayou Classic have now partnered together with KaBOOM! and our schools for the last 3 years to provide our students with a new, safe place to exercise and play. Thank You! The enthusiasm that State Farm comes down with for New Orleans, the big game, KaBOOM! and our students radiates into every aspect of the process and especially the build day. This KaBOOM! playground build was especially exciting for the AmeriCorps NCCC team Gold 2, who spent their first week of work, on their first project, of their year of service on site for prep day and build day helping to lead hundreds of volunteers. Welcome Gold 2 to your project with the Recovery School District and to our city. Thank you so much to all involved in helping create a new playground for the Coghill Cougars. A playground is such a simple, yet crucial aspect of the school environment that helps provide students with a reason to be enthused to play, grow and learn.
As if the excitement of one new playground was not enough, KaBOOM! came back the following week to help create another new play space here in New Orleans. Lakeview Presbyterian Church is now the proud site of a beautiful new playground. An exceptional thanks must go out to the Junior League of New Orleans who is “committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving our community” and who partnered with the Church in order to ensure the success of the playground. While talking to one of the members of the church on build day they were eager to share their excitement about not just building a playground for the church, but one that was open to all children in the community to enjoy. The playground went up on a beautiful site now clad with art by children, benches, new trees, picnic tables painted with checker boards, a shade structure, and a garden space. Although the skies initially warned of possible snow and a very chilly morning, by the afternoon the sun came out and the fence became lined with removed sweatshirts, jackets and gloves. Thank you again for all of the volunteers, AmeriCorps, KaBOOM!, Lakeview Presbyterian Church, and the Junior League of New Orleans for helping to create another safe area for our children to play and enjoy.
We Love You KaBOOM!
