The Sacajawea Elementary School PTA has been raising money to have a fully inclusive playground installed since November of 2022, and is finally reaching that goal.
- Recent Obituaries | A Waiting Child
- Rumors of 'immigrant bus' in Montana
- Overnight shooting in Great Falls
- New restaurant opens in Choteau
The need for an inclusive playground is especially important to Sarah Goldsmith, PTA president, due to one of her daughters having cerebral palsy and often being unable to play with her friends.
“Some things with the current playground that make it a barrier is surfacing so you can't get a wheelchair or a walker, anything like that from the pea gravel, and the different playground components that [don’t allow] somebody with a wheelchair or a walker or any sort of physical impairment to be able to navigate on their own,” said Goldsmith. “Meadowlark Elementary had an inclusive playground put in, and when we saw that, I just knew that we had to have it here for people like my daughter and other kids with a disability that should be able to play with their peers.”
The Sacajawea PTA recently received a $150,000 donation from a neighbor in the community, putting them just $80,000 away from their goal.
“Great Falls as a whole, and the community as a whole, is such a generous community and our neighborhood here to Sacajawea has been so generous, so it's been really inspiring to see the progress that has been made so far, and we're really hoping to make the final push to get to our goal by the end of April so we can install the new playground this summer,” Goldsmith said.
From the Sacajawea PTA as well as all of the kids at Sacajawea Elementary, “please support our playground!”
Donations to the Sacajawea Inclusive Playground Project can be made by check to the Sacajawea PTA or online to the GFPS Foundation. You can also visit the Sacajawea PTA website for information on other fundraising opportunities.
