Franklin School Gets a New Playground
Rahway Public Schools
Kids at Franklin Elementary School in Rahway, NJ are celebrating because the school recently debuted a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground. The months-long collaboration between Franklin Elementary, Popsicle®, and KABOOM! culminated during the last week of the school year as more than 120 volunteers installed the new playspace, which will offer over 600 children a high-quality, safe place to play that is close to where they live and learn.
The new playground was a collaborative effort by numerous community members, including kids, who presented creative ideas for their dream playground during a design day this past June. The playground is inspired by those drawings and will provide playspace equity for hundreds of kids and their families with a place to get active, build social bonds, and gather as a community.
There were many individuals on the team that played integral roles in the success of this project. Dr. Aleya Shoieb, the principal of Franklin School, and Dr. Linda Lampert, Franklin School’s technology facilitator initiated this project by writing a grant that ultimately got the ball rolling. Michele Anastos, Lindsey Barrett, Susan Dilollo, Susan Farrar, Nicole Sugzda, Vice Principal Dr. Juan Miao, and PTA President Shavon Smith-Simons were all essential in recruiting volunteers and securing food donations. Lead custodian Michael Dedinsky played an important role by securing all the necessary tools and materials for the playground construction. Edward Kushpa, Rahway Public Schools Manager of Buildings and Grounds was instrumental in securing Whirl Construction, a playground installation company, to excavate and prepare the area. KABOOM’s project managers, Bicki Rudd and Katy Davis met with the team weekly to make sure that the project ran smoothly.
Among the approximate 120 volunteers that participated during the three-day build, were many of the school’s staff members, students, members of the PTA, district administrators, board of education members, Rahway’s Mayor Giacobbe, Rahway Police Officers, and members of the Rahway Fire Department.
Over the course of the three days, several Rahway and surrounding area restaurants and businesses donated food and drinks for the volunteers. These included Il Forno a Legna, the Waiting Room, D’Italia, Las Pinatas, Sinai Bakery, Rahway Fried Chicken, Firehouse Eatery and Pub, Sabor Peruano, La Malinche, and Panda China, as well as the ShopRite in Clark. “We are eternally grateful to all who participated and made this event a huge success,” said Dr. Shoieb.
Photos by Rahway Public Schools
