Non-Profit organization Hope for Hall unveiled Hall County School’s first-ever inclusive playground at Wauka Mountain Elementary School during a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday.
Students, staff, and community members alike gathered at the school to celebrate inclusivity and accessible play for all students during the event.
Hope for Hall Founder Caroline Filchak highlighted that the new play area has plenty to offer for children of all ability levels.
“I truly believe it is a playground that every child can play on,” Filchak said. “Blind children, children in wheelchairs, deaf children, children that have severe mobility issues, they are all welcome and can play here. A couple things that really make this playground stand out and inclusive: one is the surfacing. There's two concrete sidewalk entrances to the playground. And once you enter the playground, it is all poured in place rubber, so it's a flat service. Wheelchairs, walkers, canes– anything can comfortably move all throughout the entire playground.”
She also said the equipment features a metal roller slide, which accommodates children with cochlear implants.
“Children with cochlear implants and hearing aids are taught not to go down a plastic slide because the static can impact their hearing device,” Filchak explained. “So, we have a metal roller slide to accommodate the needs of our deaf children."
The new playground also includes two recreational devices that wheel-chair users can play on without being transferred from their chair through the We-Go merry- go- round and We-Go Swing.
Filchak said the space also has equipment for sensory-seeking children through its Sensory Maze, which has 13 panels, each featuring a hands-on activity. Additionally, the play area includes two swings wheelchair users can be transferred into, a music area and an inclusive zip-line. Educational signs with information about several inspirational figures with disabilities are also scattered throughout the play area, one of which features Hall County School teacher Paige Martin, who served in the district for 33 years.
Wauka Mountain Kindergarten Teacher Katy Strayhorn shared the importance of the accessible equipment for all students.
“Being a teacher for a very long time, I've had kids who have never been able to set foot on a playground or have anything to play with, and to watch them wheel onto a playground and get to spin and get to play like every other child, I cried,” Strayhorn said. “It was a beautiful thing and it continues to be a beautiful thing to watch all kids and the other kids rally behind them and all play together.”
Filchak’s daughter, Hope, inspired the mission to make Hall County Schools playgrounds inclusive for all.
“My husband and I, we have two kids,” Filchak said. “We have a typically developing five year old, and we have a three year old, Hope, who was born with multiple disabilities. Hope was born with a rare genetic syndrome called MLS syndrome that has caused her to be deaf, blind and have a heart and a brain condition. And so, through her life, and through her disability, we have seen some needs within our local community.”
Filchak said when Hope was just six months old, she was told her daughter would not be able to walk or communicate verbally. Filchak chose to process the news by running at Wauka Mountian’s track, where she realized her daughter would likely struggle to play.
“On this day, I was thinking about what the doctor had just said to me, you know, ‘your daughter may not walk, and she may not talk,’” Filchak recalled. “And, I knew she had trouble seeing and I knew she had trouble hearing. And I was looking at this playground and I was running, and I was thinking ‘how is my daughter going to play on this playground with her typically developing brother, who is her best friend?’”
While Filchak noted the playground did meet requirements set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, she felt her daughter and others with disabilities would be unable to fully immerse themselves in the play experience alongside their peers.
“I started talking to parents that had kids with disabilities in the schools now and asked them, ‘what are your kids with disabilities doing at recess?’”, Filchak said. “I learned one of two things was happening: either kids were electing to stay in the classroom during recess, because there was nothing for them to do on the playground, or, they were being taken outside to the playground and they were sitting and watching their friends play and run and laugh…. That didn't sit well with me. And so, after learning about inclusive playgrounds, and learning that we did have kids in the schools with disabilities that were being excluded from play, I knew that, you know, we needed to do something.”
Hope for Hall is currently working to bring inclusive play to Hall County’s forthcoming Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary School, which is slated to open for the 2024-2025 school year.
As the organization continues to raise money to fund its mission to build similar playgrounds at Hall County’s 18 other elementary schools through private donations and federal grants, Filchak highlighted that all Hall County residents can help the cause through the PEACH Education Tax Credit Program.
Those interested can apply for pre-approval at gfpe.org. Within 60 days of being notified of your approval, submit your payment and be sure to designate the donation to “Hall County Schools”.
More information can be found on Hope for Hall’s Website.
