Whether it be chasing each other around after a morning of exhausting work or the opportunity to socialize with friends, recess is a vital part of education for any elementary schooler. When a child is prevented from participating in these daily outdoor activities due to a physical disability, it leads to social exclusion that can continue on into the classroom and negatively impact the individual.
The Recess Project, who completed their first school project at Wasco Elementary on Oct. 17, 2024, is trying to promote inclusion by making school playgrounds accessible to everyone.
“The Recess Project [was] established in St. Charles, Illinois [in] February 2023,” said Katrina Placzek, president and founder of The Recess Project. “We’re a new nonprofit organization, and our mission is to help schools provide by donating inclusive playground equipment to elementary school playgrounds.”
When Placzek learned that playgrounds can be accessible to children with disabilities, it encouraged her to promote playground accessibility.
“About three years ago, I had gone to my first inclusive playground with my daughter, who is a primary wheelchair user. She has cerebral palsy, so she never was able to walk, and we stopped going to playgrounds because we realized that they’re just not an accessible place for wheelchairs or mobility aids in general,” said Placzek. “Once we went to our first inclusive playground, it really opened my eyes to that playgrounds can be inclusive for kids with disabilities.”
The Recess Project mainly focuses on raising money for inclusive playground equipment at schools.
“The moment that [my daughter] went on a wheelchair swing for the first time, … it lit a fire inside my heart to advocate for these sort of playgrounds, and one of the focuses that we at The Recess Project [have] is to primarily donate to schools because there’s a huge void in accessibility on the school playgrounds, specifically because it seems to be one of those places that schools don’t really focus on,” Placzek said. “It is kind of like a forced exclusion for these kids, where they want to be included and play at recess, but the tools to be included are just not there.”
The organization recently completed their first project by funding the installation of an inclusive swing at Wasco Elementary.
“Starting Feb. 1 of 2024, I started a campaign called the TRP Swing-A-Thon, and what this entailed was I had dedicated to go to a playground every day for 100 days and swing,” said Placzek. “We have Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook [and] YouTube, and my idea was to spread awareness for The Recess Project during this campaign … and also fundraise for $30,000 to purchase the We-Go Swing that would be put at Wasco Elementary.”
There are multiple types of inclusive playground equipment, but The Recess Project decided to fund the We-Go Swing, as it allows children both with and without disabilities to swing together.
“[There are] three different types of wheelchair swings, mainly,” Placzek said. “The We-Go Swing is the most inclusive design. [There’s a place for] a wheelchair user or someone in a mobility aid, and [there’s also] a bench on the other side that friends without disabilities can sit and swing together at the same time, and there’s kind of like these bars that come down, and you can use your arms to propel.”
Starting The Recess Project was not an easy task, especially as it is a nonprofit organization. A great amount of commitment and dedication went into the campaign and fundraising.
“It was hard, I’m not gonna lie. 100 days of swinging and fundraising. …. We were all crying at the ribbon cutting ceremony,” said Placzek. “Just to hear the kids getting excited about their new piece of inclusive equipment, and when I was speaking with the kids, explaining why [this] piece of equipment [is] so important and sharing that this can be used with all [their] friends, even the ones that use wheelchairs, and the importance of including all [their] peers on the playground and then just [seeing] the students just sort of taking that in.”
This first successful project meant a lot to the members of The Recess Project and encourages them to continue making playgrounds accessible for all.
“It was just such a wonderful and memorable experience. I won’t ever forget it. I was in tears. I had this idea, and [we always have ideas] in life, and sometimes you just don’t know if it’s gonna work out, but it did,” Placzek said. “It was kind of like enough people had believed in our mission and supported it, and it happened, so it gives us more fuel to keep going and make a bigger impact because this was just one school, one piece of equipment. We want to do this over and over and over [until all] school playgrounds are inclusive.”
The Recess Project plans to continue advocating and fundraising for inclusive playground equipment.
“We’re hoping that [the We-Go Swing will] spark some more change, and we’re hoping to do more. [Donating] more pieces to St. Charles schools is what I’m voting for, but I know we want to do the whole United States,” said Placzek. “We probably will be here for a long time. There’s such a need for this project, for this mission. A lot of work has to be done.”
Additional information about The Recess Project can be found on their website.
