Seeking to build a playground that would be accessible for all students at Clarence Lobo Elementary, the school plans to host a lemonade stand Friday, Sept. 8, at the Beach Kids Therapy Center at 100 Calle Amanecer.
Participants will receive free lemonade, cookies, and popcorn in return for donating to the school’s cause. Lobo Elementary aims to raise an initial $100,000 to help fund the process of tearing down its existing playground and constructing a new, inclusive playground.
The school is partnering with The Recess Project, a new nonprofit organization aimed at creating more inclusive recess periods for schools by providing equipment, which has already committed to donating between $17,000 and $25,000 of new playground equipment.
Michelle Zeigler, a parent and PTA board member at the school who is leading the fundraising campaign, said the push began after she was introduced to another mother, Amanda Hicks. Hicks had long desired to bring accessibility to the school’s playground but didn’t know which direction to follow.
The new facility would better serve students with special needs, within the Success Through Academic Readiness and Social Skills (STARS) and Supporting Early Academic and Language Skills (SEALS) programs at Lobo Elementary.
“I didn’t know (about those students), that’s not where my focus was,” Zeigler said. “I thought to myself, ‘You’re right. This isn’t right.’ We have kids in wheelchairs, we have kids with disabilities and where do they go? Where do they play? What do we do for them?”
Hicks did more research and eventually found The Recess Project, and she reached out to Zeigler as Zeigler handled social media for the PTA. After receiving the PTA’s approval, Zeigler posted about Lobo Elementary’s entry into a competition to receive help from the nonprofit.
“We ended up posting our first post in June and started educating our little community, saying ‘Hey, vote our school, vote our school, vote our school,’” Zeigler recalled. “We were doing that throughout the month of June, and in July (was) when we learned that we won the nomination.”
The Recess Project will provide a merry-go-round with wheelchair accessibility and a “quiet zone” accessible equipment piece, in addition to coordinating with the Capistrano Unified School District to place accessible flooring, not wood chips, under the new pieces.
As the 2023-2024 school year began, Zeigler said the proponents realized they were intent on getting a brand new playground to replace the aging facility that was more than 30 years old.
Moving forward, the PTA will not be involved in the fundraising process, but The Recess Project will, as it has begun a campaign of lemonade stands across the country. All proceeds will go towards supporting Lobo Elementary.
“Their first goal is $10,000 and they are currently at $7,900,” said Zeigler. “That’s all through the lemonade stand. Then, when the fall comes, which is coming up shortly, they’ll do a fall fundraising campaign.”
She added that it was “amazing” to see children in places such as Texas and Wisconsin helping to benefit the school.
Friday’s lemonade stand has a goal of $1,000, Zeigler said, for which they’ve already raised $250. Her connection with the host for the event, Beach Kids, is through her son Van’s time attending the occupational therapy center as her son has sensory-processing issues and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
“I reached out to the Beach Kids facilities director and I said, ‘We’re going to host a lemonade stand, (and) I would love to do it on your guys’ grounds,” Zeigler recalled. “She said, ‘Absolutely, that would be amazing because we have a lot of students who attend Beach Kids for their (physical therapy) and (occupational therapy).’ ”
Seeing their push for a new playground succeed would be significant for the concept of inclusivity, she added, and would fulfill what the vision of a playground should be, as a place where no one could be excluded because of the circumstances they face. Zeigler said every school should have a similar type of facility, and it would be the first San Clemente school to have one.
“It would be huge for our community,” she said, adding, “Just like Courtney’s Sandcastle was for Orange County, I think that we would be the pioneers for other schools to think outside of the box and to think, ‘Oh, we’re going to put in a new playground, it’s time.’ ”
The lemonade stand event will go from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Friday, and donations can be made through cash or Venmo.
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