MANCHESTER -- Slides are missing, swings are rusting and paint is chipping. But the deteriorating conditions at the more than 20-year-old Bowers Elementary School playscape aren't dampening spirits, they're lifting them.
Parents and kids at the Manchester elementary have teamed up in a creative way to raise the funds for a new playground. Strapped by a budget that won't provide the grand playscape they envision, some Bowers school parents decided an interactive project involving the kids would be the best way to make their dreams come true.
A new GoFundMe campaign features the children in their own hit song, "Do You Want to Build a Playground?" set to the tune of the "Frozen" hit song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" -- but with all new lyrics.
PTA president and parent Amy Newman helped organize the endeavor. She said "the idea took off and the words came together. It was quick and catchy."
The design is for a playground that will serve all 400 students at Bowers, including kids with physical disabilities and special needs.
"We really need a new playground, especially for kids who have special needs," said Sierra Johnson, a 13-year-old who graduated from Bowers.
The current playground, among its many issues, is only appropriate for kids in kindergarten through second grade, leaving the older students in the school--or about half the student-body--without an appropriate recess area.
"It's a collaborative effort between the PTA and parents," said Chris Anderson, who is the dad of three kids who will attend Bowers in the fall and helped edit together the fundraising video. "The objective is to take this and have people know about it."
To find out more about the project and donate click here.
