Changemakers is a column that highlights the work of local nonprofit organizations serving Athens County.
Chloe Wright is going into sixth grade at Alexander Elementary School in Albany. Wright has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair or a walker to get around. When she started school, she couldn’t join her classmates on the playground.
“The playground was mulch at the time and my wheelchair and walker can’t get through the mulch,” she told the Independent. “So I was just walking around the blacktop and playing with chalk or something.”
This left Wright isolated from her peers. “It made me feel sad, because I wished that people cared about the wheelchair users,” she said.
Wright wasn’t the only student at Alexander who couldn’t access the playground due to its accessibility issues. Isidoro Korpi, the son of Annah Korpi, also uses a wheelchair.
“I got involved with the school because my son started going there and I thought, ‘We need to fix the playground because he’s going to be on it for seven years,’” Annah Korpi told the Independent.
So Annah Korpi did a deep dive into accessible playgrounds — researching online, taking webinars, calling and emailing other schools and parents to learn about what they had done. Eventually, she was calling playground equipment vendors and looking for funding.
In spring 2022, Annah Korpi and fellow parent Lisa Wigal met with Alexander Elementary School Assistant Principal Rich Maskiell and other Alexander school administrators, plus the facilities director. The administrators liked the idea of adding an accessible section to the playground.
“Me and Lisa were like, ‘We should go big or go home,” Annah Korpi said. “It’s about not separating the kids — it’s about access for all.”
Annah Korpi requested a meeting with the Athens County Foundation, who gave the accessible playground project a vote of confidence, but suggested Korpi look elsewhere for a fiscal sponsor.
Annah Korpi then approached the Athens Rotary, ready to ask for funds and fiscal sponsorship. Around that time, she learned of another mom who spearheaded an accessible playground through her school’s parent-teacher organization.
“That’s when I approached the [Alexander] PTO,” Annah Korpi said.
Getting into larger advocacy work
In most ways, the Alexander PTO is a typical parent teacher organization: parents, grandparents and caregivers who support the school district, its staff, and students through fundraising and other efforts.
Two book fairs each year raise money for the school library, other fundraisers allow the Alexander PTO to make grants to teachers. PTO programming also includes an annual school carnival, which is free to all, and a Secret Santa shopping experience for elementary students.
Annah Korpi wasn’t sure what to expect when she approached the Alexander PTO about becoming a fiscal sponsor for the adaptive playground idea.
However, “This PTO was like, ‘Sure, you want to create a subcommittee? Why not?’” Annah Korpi said.
So Annah Korpi and Wigal, whose daughter also uses a wheelchair, became co-chairs of the Alexander Inclusive Playground Project. They were able to open a bank account through the PTO, essential for accepting donations and grants for the project.
Annah Korpi has since become Alexander PTO treasurer.
“What I realized from this project is that PTOs have a lot of leverage because they’re 501(c)(3)s, so they’re eligible for grants, they are not dictated by the schools, they’re separate,” Annah Korpi said.
She and Wigal continued to meet with vendors, parents and potential donors.
“I think sometimes people have an idea and want to see change and think unless this authority figure gives them approval to take the first step, they can’t do anything,” Annah Korpi said, adding, “You can take a lot of steps before you need approval.”
With initial commitments of $25,000 each from the Athens Rotary and the Athens County Foundation, organizers were able to leverage the funds to secure $260,000 from the state capital budget and $70,000 from a community development block grant through the Athens County Commissioners. In the end, the committee raised over $1 million and the first phase of the playground opened in August 2024.
Donations also came in small amounts — as little as $1.43 from one student’s piggy bank, and $2 from another student’s allowance. More than 500 individuals donated in all.
The new playground equipment is similar in many ways to the old equipment — monkey bars, swings, seesaws and merry-go-rounds — but the new equipment is adapted so that children who have disabilities can participate. And the mulch has been replaced with a rubber surface, accessible by wheelchair or walker.
Alexander schools paraprofessional Amy Mansfield worked last school year with a third grader who uses a wheelchair, so she spent plenty of time on playground duty.
“It’s amazing,” Mansfield said of the new playground that has now expanded to a completed second phase.
Mansfield says her student “has the time of his life” on the new playground, and that it importantly allows him to be with his peers during recess. “They don’t argue, but it’s like ‘It’s my turn to play with him, it’s my turn to push him’ — they’re wonderful classmates and he has so much fun with them.”
In addition to being accessible to students, their family members and friends benefit from the playground as well. Mansfield feels that the new playground is safer for everyone.
“I see less injuries. They’re not tripping on the sidewalk, they’re not getting mulch in their eyes,” Mansfield said.
Mansfield also mentioned how the Alexander PTO’s Inclusive Playground Project has brought together the Alexander community of parents, students, teachers, administrators, and residents.
“The support and the donations and the time that people have put into this, it’s pretty amazing. It’s really amazing,” Mansfield said. “Annah and Lisa — it would not be possible without them.”
The final phase of the playground, opening next month in August, will include a clubhouse, a revolution spinner (an adaptive merry-go-round), and accessible rockers. This phase will incorporate a pre-K and kindergarten playground, plus accessible rubber surfacing.
Annah Korpi is happy to share her hard-won wisdom with parents in other school districts.
“My advice is, use the historical legacy of PTOs/PTAs and your status as a nonprofit to think beyond ice cream socials and pizza parties,” Annah Korpi said. “You can do even more with grants if you want to make a better change and be more inclusive and (do) advocacy work.”
