New playground games fully funded in 24 hours

Thanks to the generosity of several Wrangell residents, and support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a fundraiser for new games for the Evergreen Elementary School playground was fully funded in a 24 hour window recently.

Jenn Miller-Yancey, head teacher of the elementary school, said that the school wanted to get some new yard games for the kids, with the new school year just around the corner. These games include items like giant chess, giant jenga, and a large connect-four game, among other items.

"The teachers here, for many years, have felt that we needed more things to do on the playground," Miller-Yancey said. "I think that we can really teach kids to use these and they could have a lot of fun and not only that, but learning ... I think it'll keep kids a lot busier, give them more options to do and also encourage that strategy, you know, games and creative play. So we're not only going for that physical activity but also that mental activity."

A fundraiser was set up on DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding website for teachers and classrooms, set at a goal of $1,150. The project received approval around Aug. 11, according to a timeline of the fundraiser on DonorsChoose. All of the donations came in a period of about 24 hours, on Aug. 12 and 13. Miller-Yancey said that as a new user of DonorsChoose, the crowdfunding site also helped the project with a matching program. There were 20 people in all who donated to the project. Another major source of help for the fundraiser came from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was matching full donations, so we advertised that as well, and in less than 24 hours we had full funding," she said.

The project officially received full funding on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Miller-Yancey said that the plan is to roll out the new yard games one at a time, to let the kids learn how to play each game, and to clean up after themselves, before letting them try a new one.

"We're just really looking forward to a great school year," she said. "We're off and running on a good track and we are excited to get the kids here, and look forward to working with the kids and the parents. The staff is fired up."