Leveling the playing field

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — The first thing Aurora Rutherford-Stone did when she returned to Fernan STEM Academy to see the completed Playground for All was run along the wheelchair-accessible path.

"I just thought, ‘Oh my God, this is so amazing,'” she said to the large crowd gathered on the Fernan playground. "I couldn’t believe that I was one of the people to help contribute to this, one of the people that helped see the capability of human hearts … I am so glad I can be a part of someone’s life to that extent, where they are finally able to go and have fun."

Aurora was one of the original fifth-graders who pushed for a more inclusive playground on Fernan's woodsy, green grounds.

Nearly two-and-a-half years after she and her advanced learning classmates set the wheels in motion, the Playground for All officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony early Wednesday evening.

"I’d like to thank every single person here, every single person that contributed to this," she said. "Without this, we’d probably still be at square one still trying to make someone’s heart leap for this."

The 2015-2016 advanced learning students were good pals with their life skills school peers, which made them realize the kids with less mobility didn't have the freedom and space of other kids at school. The advanced learning students encouraged the adults in their lives to help them achieve their dream of making Fernan a better place for everyone, a true Playground for All.

"It's really cool because when we first started doing this, I never really pictured it ending up this good," said Lakes Magnet School seventh-grader Gage Henson, one of the original playground dreamers. "I only thought we would have just one structure, but then I came here and there's like three different structures, and I couldn't believe that just us had done that."

He sipped from his celebratory flute of sparkling cider, then smiled as he shared what matters most: "Knowing we were doing it for all the right reasons."

"It was only beneficial for everybody," Gage said. "Things like this shouldn't stop happening. This should keep going."

The Playground for All is now home to two outdoor classrooms that can accommodate wheelchairs, a weather education station, a wheelchair swing, a puppet theater, a music station and the pathway that all can traverse.

Advanced learning teacher Pam Kiefer and life skills teacher Susie Brott, and their students, have been at the heart of this project since inception, along with countless community donors, businesses and more who volunteered funds, time and expertise to make this playground happen.

Brott thanked the kids for their "passion, compassion, fortitude and commitment" as she addressed the crowd.

“They went above and beyond and showed what humans are," she said. "They have hearts as big as Texas and I just can’t thank them enough for the gift that they’ve given to not only my students, but to the community. This is something that will be shared by everyone."

A collective "aww" could be heard and a few eyes glistened when Brott shared how this inclusive playground is already changing the lives of her students as they experience the wheelchair swing for the first time.

The first student to try it was a non-verbal student "and he smiled from ear to ear," she said.

The next student to use the wheelchair swing was a fourth-grader who Brott asked, "What do you think?"

"She looked up at me and she said, 'I feel like a superhero,'" Brott said. "That is why we did this. That’s it. Right there."