Dorian Studios will take sports and clubs photos for our yearbook on Tuesday, February 23. Please do not schedule appointments for this day. This is an important day for students; we hate to have anyone miss their opportunity to be in their club or team photo.
It takes a village to raise a (climbing) wall.
Petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and community meetings. All tools for solving broad community problems, and all aspects of a 2005-2006 Villa Academy 2nd grade social studies unit on communities.
After participating in a mock community meeting to “solve a problem” that had occurred in an imaginary town, the students all walked away with invaluable experience and a real understanding of some of the ways the adult-world resolves conflicts. One student, however, also walked away with a light bulb over his head and the tenacity to address a problem he had perceived within the Villa community – a problem that he followed through to its successful resolution in September 2007.
In summer 2005, the school’s beloved tire swings had been deemed unsafe and removed from the school’s lively outdoor play area. By later that academic year, then-second-grader Christopher S. was concerned. “He really liked to swing on them,” said Lower School director Jody Elsner, “and he wrote me a letter to this effect.”
Elsner met with the student and explained that the tire swings were not a practical choice or a good use of space for the villa Academy playground – they were unsafe for large groups and thus could only be used by one or two children at a time. Christopher then asked if the students could vote on new equipment to install in place of the tire swings.
As there was no budget established for a new structure, the student’s request began an elaborate process that would eventually involve the entire Villa Academy community.
It started with Christopher and the student council meeting with a rep from the playground structure manufacturer. It was determined that the existing structure could not safely be expanded, but a separate structure could be installed. The student council poured over the playground equipment catalogue and found four structures that looked like they would be fun for all of Villa’s age groups and would fit the space. On Field Day 2006, the entire student body voted and the overwhelming winner was a multi-panel, curved climbing wall.
Thanks to Christopher, the students had spoken – and chosen the most expensive structure among their options. Next came the problem of financing. The Student Council agreed to donate part of the funds, school administration pledged a percentage of the cost from lower and middle school budgets, the students did their share through a school-wide fundraiser, and the Parent Association awarded a faculty grant to cover the rest – truly a community-wide commitment.
In September 2007, the play structure was unveiled during a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by the entire school. Since then, the structure has been spotted as a treacherous mountain top to be scaled, a fort to be defended against invading tag-opponents, a fairy palace in which to host a fabulous tea party, and much more. If being overrun by hundreds of squealing school children on a daily basis is any measure, the climbing wall – and Christopher’s civics lesson – was a great success.
