An effort to increase the social aspect of playground play among Forest Hills students led Laura Kearney on a yearlong project that will culminate in the expansion of the playground space at the Western Springs school.
Kearney had written a grant request to the Western Springs Foundation for Educational Excellence, a nonprofit volunteer organization that acquires and distributes resources to enhance the educational experience of students. The grant request Kearney submitted was for a GaGa Ball Pit and the required equipment.
The pit is an octagon-shaped enclosures where players hit a ball at or below opponents’ knees to eliminate them from the pit.
“A lot of Catholic schools have them,” Kearney said. “St. John of the Cross uses one. It is a game for all kids. It does not matter what their athletic ability, they can all play. It does not require strength or athletic ability. They can participate in the same game; and more kids can play than with Four Square.”
Once the Forest Hills GaGa Ball grant request was submitted, Kearney was asked to rewrite the request to cover all the district’s schools.
With the districtwide grant request approved, attention then turned on how to implement the game at Forest Hills, which lost blacktop space with the school building expansion which took place during the 2014-15 school year.
“The playground got taken away by the building expansion,” Kearney said. “If we put the courts on the grass, there would be wear and tear on the grass, but we did not have any concrete or cement areas to house the courts.”
With the green space at the school being the property of the Western Springs Park District, blacktop expansion could not happen without the park district’s blessing. That got Superintendent Brian Barnhart and other District 101 leaders working with executive director John Robinson and park officials.
“Outside the school day, the playground expansion was a great option for the Forest Hills area,” Barnhart said, noting there had been basketball hoops at the school prior to the building expansion.
The school superintendent said that the blacktop expansion onto park property will provide more options for gym classes and give all Forest Hills students more to do at recess than just walk up and down the sidewalk.
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“It gives us a ton of flexibility during the school day,” Barnhart said. “In less than ideal weather, kids can’t go on the grass and it is not a great space for recess.”
The blacktop expansion will be a five- or six-week project beginning the week of spring break starting March 21.
Robinson said the project provides help for the school district, but also provides a play area for kids in the Forest Hills neighborhood. The project, estimated at $48,605, will be split evenly between District 101 and the park district.
The parks director said both government entities want to make sure residents in the area know what is going on when work on the 50-by-56 foot cement slab begins.
Robinson was pleased that the cooperative effort was able to be accomplished.
“It is good PR for us to work together,” Robinson said. “I am big on working with all the taxing bodies in town. You have parks attached to school at Laidlaw, Forest Park and Forest Hills — three parks, three schools. It is important for us to have a good relationship.”
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.