New Nesbit Playground Breaks Records

About 900 volunteers from DIRECTV, the PTA, and organizers and residents of the local community joined forces on Monday, April 16 to build a new playground at in Tucker.

Funded by DIRECTV, the playground, at 10,000 square feet is the largest ever constructed by KaBOOM!, which has led the building of more than 2,000 playgrounds across North America since 1996. 

The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by Nesbit students who participated in a Design Day event in February. It will provide more than 1,700 children with a safe place to play. Until now, the school did not have an adequate playground to accommodate its student body.

The construction was completed in just six hours and includes:

(1) Swing set includes 12 swings with accessible swings for students with disabilities.

(4) Picnic Table-top Checker Games

(1) Brand play structure with wheelchair ramps

(4) Outdoor classrooms complete with chalkboards and seating areas

(1) Raised-bed gardens

(2) Completely refurbished basketball courts

(6) Life-size outdoor musical instruments

(4) Sets of Life-size Imagination Playground Buildings Blocks (Lego-type)

(2) Shade structures

There are also bleachers for basketball games and new outdoor seating for teachers.

A statement from the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch said, in part: "Today’s kids spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 children lives within walking distance of a park or playground. This play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically, socially and cognitively. Children need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy."

A short video from Nesbit's Facebook page is included here.