Officials Impressed by Students' Park Designs

It was a project that not only taught students to use their creative thinking skills, it also taught them to consider the needs of others. Fifth-graders at recently teamed up to design “boundless playgrounds” accessible to all kids — including youngster with disabilities.

Teacher Laurie Bird created the activity last year, basing it on a non-fiction story in fifth-grade reading textbooks. “A Dream Comes True” details the efforts of one mom to make sure her child had a place to play despite using a wheelchair.

This year, all Irene King fifth-graders took part, designing their own blueprints for what their ideal accessible-to-everyone play area would look like.

On Wednesday, Romeoville Mayor John Noak, Lockport Mayor Dev Trivedi and staff from the Lockport Township Park District visited Irene King to take a look at the students’ creations.

Sue Micklevitz, who is both a Romeoville trustee and executive director of the Lockport Township Park District, said the fifth-graders showed an understanding of the needs of those with disabilities.

“There’s a lot of great ideas,” she said. “I think it’s a fantastic way for them to understand and appreciate the challenges of people with disabilities.”

The students used their creativity, but also drew inspiration from real life —including existing local playgrounds, Bird said.

“[The Village of] Romeoville gave us all kinds of catalogs,” Bird said. “They brought blueprints and plans, and we talked about how to prepare the land and the costs involved.”

Micklevitz was impressed with the way students incorporated elements of real-life playgrounds into their work.

“Many times I asked them, ‘Where did you get this idea?’ Oftentimes, it’s a real-world connection,” she said.

Lockport Township Park District project coordinator Greg Ludwig said one team of students came up with an idea that struck him as a particularly creative use of existing technology.

The students’ design included a play area that would allow kids who use wheelchairs to push a button to “tell” the play equipment it needed to accommodate a wheelchair user. When Ludwig asked the students where they came up with that idea, the answer surprised him.

“They said [it came from] government buildings and places where you push a button and the door opens [for wheelchair users],” he said. “A lot of them had some unique ideas.”

Each team was given a map of the Irene King school property, including the existing blacktop playground and the open space near Troxel and Murphy that would be just right for a new handicapped-accessible play area, Bird said. From there, the design was all up to them.

“We tried to make it as real-world as possible,” Bird added.

Students had to determine exactly where their playground would be located, how much space would be needed and what design elements would be incorporated to allow all kids, regardless of their range of abilities, to use it.

Students Maria Romo and Katie Kerwin teamed up to create a playground they dubbed “Super Smile Park.”

The park’s design includes five different areas catering to different needs, including an area with Braille and loudspeakers to help blind children play safely, and an area with wheelchair-accessible swings. There was also what Katie called a “chill-out” area where all kids could take a break and relax together.

“We did this so people won’t struggle for what they can play on,” Maria said.

Trivedi was impressed by the students’ work.

“I think the imaginative power is tremendous,” he said. The Lockport mayor was even more impressed with the youngsters’ ability to empathize other children.

“They’re so caring,” he said. “That’s what this is all about.”

“It’s great, because it opens their eyes to people with disabilities,” Micklevitz said.