On Saturday, September 30, volunteers picked up hammers and loads of mulch to build a brand-new playground at W. M. Bass Elementary School. The new playspace is brimming with unique touches like a zipline, a mini rock wall, and a community garden area. Best of all, it’s kid-designed.
Bass students came together in July to discuss what would make an ideal playground. They put their wildest dreams on paper and didn’t hold back—drawings featured fire-breathing dragons and somewhat treacherous-looking obstacle courses. Nonprofit organization KABOOM! took it from there, incorporating students’ suggestions into the playground design and coordinating community volunteers to construct it.
“Students will be able to look at this playground and think, ‘I designed that.’ They’ve made a positive impact on their community, and I think that’s really special,” said Bass principal Monica Hendricks.
The new playground is part of a nationwide effort by KABOOM! to end playspace inequity. Many children in the U.S.—especially children of color—don’t get a chance to experience the physical, social, and mental health benefits of playing on a playground.
“This playground will serve a neighborhood that is generally underserved,” said Lynchburg City Schools (LCS) Deputy Superintendent of Operations & Strategic Planning Reid Wodicka. “It will provide an opportunity for the rest of the city to connect with Bass Elementary School and allow us to demonstrate servant leadership for the greater Lynchburg community through our Bass campus.”
The new state-of-the-art playground will bring the benefits of outdoor recreation to more than 600 kids living in the vicinity of Bass. In many ways, it’s a gift to the community from the community itself. From the students’ big ideas to the volunteers’ hard work putting the equipment together to the donations from community organizations, the essence of Lynchburg is woven into every fiber of this project.
Special thanks to the numerous community partners who made this project possible: the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY); Hurt & Proffit; RSG Landscaping; the E. C. Glass High School football and basketball teams; Boxley; Architectural Partners; Fairview Christian Church; Thomas Road Baptist Church; Big Boy Riders; the LCS Education Foundation; volunteers from the Fairview Center; 4H Extension; students from the Randolph College M.A. in Coaching and Sport Leadership program; students from Liberty University; the Virginia University of Lynchburg basketball team; and parents, students, and staff members from Bass.