New Playground to enhance families well-being in East Dallas

 By Asia World Media

DALLAS, April 27, 2013 – A dream is now a reality for children in East Dallas as their drawings were turned into a new playground today. In less than eight hours, the play space was built with the help of more than 200 volunteers from Foresters™, Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy, Pathway of Life Church and non-profit KaBOOM!.

KaBOOM! contacted Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy and Pathway of Life Church about receiving a grant for a new playground to be designed by local children and built by volunteers.  This project is part of a $7 million commitment from Foresters to KaBOOM! that will result in nearly 100 playgrounds built across the U.S. and Canada. Foresters is providing a majority of the funding for the new playground with Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy and Pathway of Life Church also contributing.

 “Foresters believes in providing opportunities for families to spend quality time together,” said Kasia Czarski, Foresters Senior Vice President, Chief Membership and Marketing Officer. “A playground is an important piece for the revitalization of a community. Not only does it provide a first step towards keeping children healthy, but it’s a safe, central location for the entire neighborhood to get together.”   A passionate advocate for family well-being, Foresters recently launched the Tech Timeout™ challenge, which encourages families to take a pledge to turn off all electronic devices for an hour a day for one week. 

Planning for the playground began at a Design Day event held in February when local children and community leaders met with organizers from KaBOOM! (a national non-profit organization dedicated to bringing play to kids who need it most) and Foresters (a life insurance provider committed to the well-being of families) to design their dream playground. The children’s drawings were then used to create the final playground design.  This new playground will eventually serve more than 28,000 children and their families in the community for years to come.

In collaboration with KaBOOM! and Foresters for the building of the new playground is Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy (a College-Career Readiness  Academy & the only Charter in Texas to have New Tech Network) and Pathway of Life Church (a church family vital to the Southeast Dallas community for 35 years).

Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy is a state-accredited charter school with three locations in Dallas (Dallas, Mesquite, and Richardson).  The Academy is laser-focused on preparing a child for college.  Enrollment is open for ALL GRADES, and TUITION IS FREE.  Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy is currently enrolling grades K-7 with additional grades added progressively until all grades K-12 are represented.  Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy model is one of excellence, its mission is in giving the students ownership of their own learning through the development of intellectual and emotional independence while instilling the values needed to propel these students into becoming successful 21st century leaders.

In designing the new playground “because our scholars were a vital part of the playground planning process, there is an ownership awareness that has been developed and is now partnered with the Safety, Trust, Respect, Responsibility culture we practice and represent here at Legacy,” said Star Fraga, Teacher Assistant at Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy.   Visit www.legacypreparatory.com (for Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy locations) 

“The church and school have normally been at the same location and it has been a place for the community to gather and where the young and old found comfort, safety and a place to belong,” said Pathway of Life Church Senior Pastor Danny Wegman. “It is said that the sweetest sound on earth is the sound of laughter and children at play. With the generous gift from Foresters and KaBOOM!, our community now has a beautiful state-of-the-art playground for our children to play and families to make long lasting memories for years to come.”

Thanks to the work of Foresters, Legacy Preparatory Charter Academy, Pathway of Life Church and KaBOOM!, children and their families now have a 2,500 square-foot playground to call home that includes features such as a 360 Degree Spiral Slide, Inclined Cliff Hanger and a Rockblocks Climbing Wall.