(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Minnesota 5th Graders Felt Compelled To Make Playground Accessible For Friends With Disabilities. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-15 Glen Lake Elementary in Hopkins, Minnesota is a small school with 460 students. And it’s a school that goes far beyond most schools to cater to those students with physical disabilities. Inside, they designated a classroom as the ‘motor room’, which has special swings installed and bean bags. Kelly Becker’s eight-year-old son Dempsey is a student there and can’t speak highly enough about the school’s care for her son, who has brain damage after losing oxygen at birth. "To send a kid who can't communicate back to you, just to know that they're so happy and in the right spot… it's amazing to feel good about your kid being at school. But it’s what’s outside… or better yet, what’s not outside that brought a peaceful revolution with the 5th graders. The playground. The Glen Lake playground had a ramp installed and there are a couple of adaptive swings. But that didn’t go far enough for the needs of 8 children who are in wheelchairs. The school has a designated developmental cognitive disabilities teacher, Sher U-F, who believes the playground isn't designed for those in wheelchairs. "All that a student can do who uses a wheelchair is go on this little ramped section here unless we literally carry students to other sections. Lifting someone, it's not always so cool. Especially the older a child gets, it can be degrading." So every day, the eight children watch the fun instead of participate, though many able- bodied children do indeed often bring the fun to them. Said 5th grader Me'Ayila Priere, "And it's really sad to see other kids go through that.” "It just didn't seem fair that some kids were just left out," said Wyatt Feucht. "They didn't look happy, and recess is about having fun," said Rhys Riley added. They are in Teacher Betsy Julien's fifth grade class, and Betsy knows this all to well in a very personal way. Her nine-year-old son Luke is a student at the school, and has disabilities, and is in a wheelchair. Said Betsy, "My classroom overlooks the playground, so every day I watch the playground and I watch those discrepancies. Sometimes when you have a child with disabilities, you don't know how long their life is gonna last and we could wait for three or four years until our district finds those funds but for me the urgency is now." She knew how much the district has put into the care of those with disabilities, but it’s her son, you know? One day her students asked her why they just couldn’t find the money to buy the adaptive equipment their friends needed. Which was $300,000. Said Betsy, "I said, 'Do you know how much that costs?! It costs a lot of money.'" Undeterred, her students unanimously decided to have an ongoing fundraiser to make it happen. How proud and touched their teacher was, that they would do this for their friends, for her son. And so The Glen Lake Accessible Playground Project began. The students began cold calling and door knocking on businesses and residences to try and pay for the pricey equipment. They collecting spare change, held bake sales, whatever it takes. The local BMW dealership donated $10,000 and that got them excited with the realization that they could do it. They got a big boost from the Glen Lake Parent Teacher Association. They were at an incredible $100,000 when they were all invited into the cafeteria. Betsy started it off by telling them, "Somebody had seen our news story and they were living in Minnesota and they reached out to their financial advisor." And then principal Jeff Radel gave them the news, "We found recently there's been an anonymous donor. An individual who lives in Minnesota who also has accessibility challenges wanted to help out in a gigantic way. We have a donation of $200,000!" Amongst the cheers of excitement was a stunned fifth grader John Buettner, who uses a wheelchair. "I felt emotionally melted. I don't have any words for what I was feeling at that very moment. When I heard those words, I, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret here. I almost started crying. Like, I teared up. And hearing those words come from the principal of the school really tells me that this is going to happen. I feel loved, in a sense that I know that I'm going to have fun for the rest of my days in this school now that this is possible.” x x YouTube Video Said Betsy, "To be able to see how much love and how loved they feel that other people are fighting that for them to be able to have that equal playground is just pretty darn special." Added student Shujaa Kutto, "I am excited for the wheelchair friends to be able to just have fun on a playground because they haven't been able, they've just had to sit out and just watch, and just watch the fun happen.” The students, and teachers are so pumped and happy about their success that they’ve decided to keep on fundraising. So every school in the district can upgrade their playgrounds so everyone can get in on the fun. Among what was added was a wheelchair swing, a merry-go-round, and a poured in rubber surface throughout the current playground. Ideas include ramps throughout so students can access ALL areas of the playground, sun shades for students who are sensitive to light, lowered basketball hoops so all can play the game... the ideas are limitless. For their school and for every school in the district. For those so inclined, you can donate or buy some swag, which all goes towards the goal. www.glenlakepto.org/... Said Betsy, “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." Said John Buettner, "I appreciate these people very much because they went out of their way just to help people that feel differently everyday. I feel very loved”. 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