In an amazing feat, young students have raised $300,000 for a new disability-friendly playground.
Glen Lake Elementary School in Minnesota had many fun activities during class breaks, but some students couldn’t join in. For students with physical disabilities, there was a complete lack of playground equipment, such as a wheelchair merry-go-round or swings. Some of the students in teacher Betsy Julien’s fifth-grade class took note of this, and decided to make a change for the better.
Wyatt Feucht and Rhys Riley believed that every student deserved the chance to have fun during recess, so they asked their teacher why the school couldn’t buy the equipment themselves. Ms Julien explained that it was expensive, with an estimated cost of $300,000.
This did not deter Wyatt or Rhys, and the pair went on a mission to raise money for a disability-inclusive playground. They began collecting spare change, held a bake sale, printed flyers, and went door-to-door to raise money.
They even reached out to local businesses and restaurants, asking them to donate a portion of their profits. The students’ hard work continued for several months, with support from the Glen Lake Parent Teacher Organization, until they finally reached their goal- raising the $300,000 needed.
For John Buettner, a student in a wheelchair, the new equipment meant more than just a chance to play. He said:
“First time I set foot on this playground I’m probably going to start crying from seeing the effort that all the school has made,”
Julien expressed how proud she felt of the students in her class:
My future as an adult is bright knowing that this generation of students, of changemakers, sees something that needs fixing, and they go for it headfirst.”
Now the class has set a new goal: to buy adaptive playground equipment for other schools in the district.