Grove Park Elementary partners with The Home Depot Foundation on a KaBOOM! playground

UPDATE: Check out the NPR feature on KaBOOM! here.

For the second time in the 2010-11 school year, an APS elementary collaborated with a community partner to bring a KaBOOM! playground. Grove Park Elementary welcomed more than 250 volunteers, who braved the threat of rain and got the job done ahead of schedule. Grove Park Elementary Principal Caitlin Sims made the point that as schools and their students work hard to meet their academic targets, they should have a childhood that’s “joyful.” She welcomed help from the school’s match-up with The Home Depot Foundation (represented in the video above by Community Affairs Specialist Tyrene Hodges), which helped supply some of the volunteers.

It was a particularly emotional moment for parent Antonio Fleming Sr., whose son Antonio Jr. is a fourth-grader at the school but also who is a Grove Park alum himself. He spoke eloquently about seeing an improved school grounds for his son and the community. The playground build included not just the traditional set-up but also a gazebo, a large hand-painted chess board on the cement playground (for the school’s active chess club), a map of the United States at the front of the school, a picnic area and stained wooden benches.

Sims also was proud to announce that Atlanta Falcons linebacker Mike Peterson and his foundation have adopted Grove Park as one of their schools and covered the school’s $7,500 matching-fund commitment for the playground, which often costs about $60,000. They’ll celebrate that partnership in a ceremony on Tuesday at the school.

Check out the KaBOOM! playground build at Thomasville Heights Elementary earlier in September here.

APS high schools gain legal insight with ‘Robes in Schools’ sessions from Just the Beginning Foundation

UPDATE: Check out the photo gallery of images from around the schools here. Watch a video of the panel discussion here, and a question-answer session with the students here.

The Just the Beginning Foundation sponsored the “Robes in the Schools” event Thursday at six Atlanta Public Schools high schools to encourage students to consider the legal profession as potential careers.  The sessions featured panel discussions featuring federal, state and municipal judges from throughout the metropolitan area, as the foundation is holding its biennial conference in Atlanta this week.

The video above comes from D.M. Therrell Educational Complex, which houses the School of Law, Government and Public Policy. APS General Counsel Veleter Mazyck and Principal Byron Barnes welcomed Judge Carl Stewart, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit; Judge Crystal Gaines, Municipal Court of Atlanta; and Judge Wendy Shoob, Fulton County Superior Court. During the session, Mazyck prompted discussions among the judges on a range of topics but in particular queried them about their personal journey to the bench as she noted that her parents did not have a college education. (Two of the three judges had the same background.) The judges stressed the importance of a strong education and avoiding the pitfalls that can prevent advancement in the professional world.

At the end of the discussion, Malyck opened up the discussion for questions from students, who asked the judges about juggling their personal and professional lives and for their own tips. Here’s a list of the participating schools and the respective panel members: