New Playground to Greet Hope Students in September

Seattle, WA – After two years of intense fundraising efforts and private donations, Hope Lutheran School will have a new playground to greet students on the first day of school.  Starting at 8 a.m. on August 11th, volunteers from school and church under the guidance of local company, PlayCreation, will begin to assemble the new structure.

Work began July 28th with demolition the 20 year old existing structure by volunteers which has seen countless children sliding down the spiral slide and withstood many feet and hands running over bridges and swinging on monkey bars. When the idea of a new playground structure was broached in 2016, students chimed in as to what they thought the new structure should include. Everything from swings to zip lines was mentioned and certain features such as slides and monkey bars were an absolute must.

“One of the reasons I’m so excited about our new playground is because it’s been a true community effort,” said Hope School principal Kristen Okabayashi. “Our families raised funds over two years to pay for the new playground, our students voted to choose which structure they wanted, parents, students, and congregational members are volunteering to prep and build the new playground, and we are using a West Seattle company for the structure itself. It’s been a team effort and we can’t wait to see our first students playing on it!”

PlayCreation submitted two designs and students were asked to vote their favorite. The winning design is blue and tangerine and includes circular monkey bars, a curly-cue slide, climbing wall, three social areas and plenty of features that encourage imaginative play. An OmniSpin (similar to the merry-go-rounds of old) is also included in the build.

“It was amazing to witness the enthusiasm of our whole school in raising the funds to revitalize our playground,” said Hope parent, Heather Paar. “The generosity of the families and community friends was so inspiring. We were fortunate to partner with our neighbor (PlayCreation) in West Seattle for the purchase of the playground, who worked with us – and our budget- to bring our vision to life!”

The weather forecast calls for cool skies on Saturday when volunteers begin at 8 a.m. to assemble this new structure. Hope welcomes volunteers who would like to be a part of this fun day and celebration. You can contact Admissions Director, Sally Heit for more information at sheit@hopeseattle.org or sign up here.