September 26, 2013
By Mike Chapin
Source: The Beacon-News
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More than 200 volunteers from Hall Elementary School, SAP Americas, HP and the neighborhood will join forces Oct. 11 to build a new playground designed by the school’s students.
Hall’s playground is outdated and in disrepair. In addition, its equipment is not appropriate for very young children. An opportunity to replace the playground came about when Hall partnered with project organizer KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to bringing play to kids who need it most.
KaBOOM! matched Hall with two international IT corporations, SAP and HP, which are contributing financial and planning support to the Hall playground project, as well as dozens of volunteers on construction day. The Hall School PTA is making plans to take good care of the volunteers who are expected to build the new playground in just a day, and the Hall and district staff will provide additional support and resources.
More volunteers are needed. If you are interested in joining Hall parents, family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers on Oct. 11, contact Karrie at hallplayground@comcast.net or call the school at 630-301-5005#.
The new Hall playground will provide more than 630 children in the community with a safe place to play. Its design is based on drawings created by Hall students who participated in a Design Day event in August. Each student was shown several styles and types of playground equipment and then asked to draw a playground that would most meet the needs of Hall students.
On hand to assist the students were Heidi Pryor and Joyce Carlson, who work at SAP in Downers Grove, and Tara Torkelson of HP. Hall School’s playground build will be the first for HP and Torkelson. This will be the third playground that Pryor and Carlson have helped build and the 20th for SAP.
“This new playground will offer our children a safe and accessible place to play, use their imagination and just be kids,” Principal Annette Belue said. “In addition, the design our students chose is appropriate for children from preschool to at least fifth grade.”
Since 1996, KaBOOM! has used its community-build model to bring together community interests and business to construct more than 2,300 new places to play across North America. The playground will be one of more than 150 builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country this year.
The organization’s vision is to see a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. That goal is becoming a reality here in Aurora. So sign up and come to Hall on Oct. 11. Be a part of an ideal America where all facets of the community come together on behalf of our children.
Learn more about KaBOOM! at www.kaboom.org.
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Read the original article at The Beacon-News.
