DAVIS COUNTY—Children with and without disabilities will soon have a place to play with equipment specifically designed to meet every child’s needs. A groundbreaking for the adaptive playground at South Clearfield Elementary School was held on March 25. It is the first of its kind in the Davis School District and is anticipated to open in the fall. 

“The main feature is that you can roll a wheelchair onto the equipment,” said Weston Weekes, District Administrator New Construction Department. “It will also have some musical elements.”

The playground is extra special because the funds for the playground were donated by Clearfield High School students who raised over $100,000 during their two-week annual Falcons are Fabulous event. 

“One of my favorite parts about this year is to see the Clearfield community come together,” said SBO Conner Mikkelsen. “And now, after just two weeks of work, we are able to see the impactful reward that is going to give back to this amazing community that has donated so much.”

“If you’ve ever had a childhood you’ll remember having a good time on the playground,” said Cyril Cambe, Service SBO. “There are so many kids in the Davis School District that don’t get that full experience with their friends just because they have their special needs or their disabilities. So we’re just really happy to be opening that up for not only them but their friends and we hope that this is a stepping stone for not only schools and their playgrounds, but just playgrounds in general.” 

“I’m so excited to be here and see the groundbreaking project,” said SBO Claire Billings. “I’m so grateful to be part of the team to start this and come together and make this happen. This is going to be so important for all the kids who will play here, with or without disabilities, to come together and become good friends.”

Billings said the school district reaches out to the students and gives them a list of options of all the different things they can do. “But really, this just spoke to us. Like it was right across the street from where our school is and we could impact all the people who come to Clearfield in the future.” 

During Falcons are Fabulous, students host a night at different restaurants, she said. “Everyone can come and a portion of the money from that gets donated. We also have two assemblies that help raise money and auctions are a big part of those where we can raise money. We reach out to different businesses and just all sorts of different things to have fun at the school and raise money at the same time.”

It’s really the biggest event of the year, Billings said. “Everyone’s looking forward to it and they try and see how much money they can raise and just break the goal each year.”

“Clearfield High selected us as the recipients of their Falcons are Fabulous fundraiser,” said South Clearfield Elementary Principal Brooke Paras. “They brought the entire Clearfield High community together to raise funds because they wanted to add some all-abilities playground equipment here at our school.”

It’s overwhelming because it just came from such a generous place, she said. “You know, we didn’t ask them to do this project. They came to us. They saw a need and it was important to them to provide a place where all of our students can play together.”

This isn’t a separate playground for students with disabilities, Paras said. “This is an all-abilities playground so that all of our students can play together. We want every child to have a great experience. We want every child to know that they are valued, that they’re treated with kindness and respect and we want all of our children to be able to have great, positive experiences with their peers. So it matters a lot to provide a space where everybody is welcome and included.”