Students help purchase inclusive playground equipment for peers

By NEAL EMBRY

Fifth-grade students in Amy Abbott’s gifted class at Vestavia Hills Elementary East recently helped purchase equipment to help their friends with special needs.

The students, called “All-Stars,” read a book last school year called “Out of my Mind,” written by Sharon Draper. In the book, the main character, Melody Brooks, is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. It inspired them this year to work to get wheelchair-accessible playground equipment that their friends in the “Sunbeam” class could use. So the class wrote two grant applications and eventually were awarded funding for equipment, which has since been installed, through the Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation.

“It made us feel like we were doing something bigger than ourselves,” student Rebecca Corhern said.

Another student, Lydia Merrill, said she learned how to advocate for others through the process.

In addition to obtaining the equipment, the students made a buddy system for each student at recess and planned a Special Olympics parade, Abbott said.

The Vestavia Hills City Schools Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant for the project, and local vendors and architects met with the students as it was being designed and installed, Abbott said. They made sure to include the Sunbeams to get their input, she said.

“This is probably one of the most special things I have been involved with in my career as an educator,” Abbott said. “When you ask the kids what they have learned because of this, they say they’ve learned to be an advocate for my friends who can’t speak up for themselves.”

The equipment, which features musical play sets, was installed over spring break and is now available for all students to use.

Sunbeam teacher Tracey Barker said the equipment is a “game-changer.”

“They love it,” Barker said. “It’s been the best time hanging out with the All-Stars this year.”

Knowing it was completely student-driven made Barker feel good, she said. They not only came up with the idea, but followed it through to completion.

“They’re amazing,” Barker said.

While this was the first time anyone in Abbott’s class had applied for a grant or done anything similar, Merrill said she hopes to keep advocating for others.

Mark Richardson, principal at East, said he could not be prouder of the students.

“It means the world to me,” Richardson said.

The students did a great job representing the school’s core values, expressed by the acronym “E.A.G.L.E.”: empathy, acceptance, grit, love and excellence, Richardson said. It isn’t just a slogan at East, he said, but it comes from a genuine desire to see students become better people.

“Kids know love is not a feeling,” Richardson said. “It’s an action in the best interest of another person. A lot of grownups don’t understand that.”