Thanks to some hard working Somerville High School students, two Somerville Public Schools playgrounds are looking more vibrant and offering new features for outdoor active play. On two Sundays this October, students from the SHS Community Service Club helped beautify the East Somerville Community School and Capuano Early Childhood Education Center playgrounds, repainting existing images and creating new active play features.

The spaces are frequently used paved playgrounds, used by students during the day and the wider community outside of school hours. While the spaces were daunting, students tackled the work with gusto – painting 4-square courts, hopscotches, a rocket ship hopscotch, school lineup images and a large labyrinth. Students also designed and painted a picnic table and a new alphabet activity path.

How were the new elements received? Minutes after the alphabet path dried, children began using it, shouting out letters as they hopped from letter to letter. Another family played naming and spelling games using the letter path, sounding out letters and asking children to ‘find the sound’ by searching and running to the letter sound. Research shows that children spend more time in active play when spaces are designed and enhanced with interactive activities where learning meets fun, creative play. Still to come are a few insects and perhaps an amphibian or two.

Many thanks to the following SHS students for their fantastic work: Hugo Rosales, Yuvica Sharma, Arthur Wittenbecher, Ali El-Saudi, Bhavroop Kaur, Hashem, Manjot Singh, Ambika Bhardwaj, Aliya Mekonen, Bhavroop Kaur, Zoe-Karen Valdes, Samantha Eatough, Suki Huang, Cam Grosser, Seline Pierre, Daniela Castro, Victoria Dutra, Ronnisha Walton, Nischal Tamang and Simran Tamang.

Thank you also to SHS Community Service Club and SHS History Teacher Kara Carpenter; SHS graduate and professional muralist Anthony Araujo-Amaral; SPS Volunteer Program Coordinator Jen Capuano; SPS Operations and Extended Learning Director Jose Mendez; Somerville Department of Public Works (DPW); and to Principals Obed Morales and Cheryl Piccirelli for providing outdoor painting palettes where volunteers can shine.

— Somerville Public Schools