Colonial Pipeline Donates $10,000 To Vaughn Elementary

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. – Children like to play, and Colonial Pipeline is helping Vaughan Elementary School in Cobb County, Ga., ensure their students get that opportunity. 

The school is undertaking a project to build a developmentally appropriate playground that would be all-inclusive; allowing children with special needs access to play on the same playground as their classmates. Colonial Pipeline donated $10,000 toward the project to build a playground at Vaughan Elementary that meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. 

Colonial’s pipeline runs through the school’s campus making it an ideal candidate for community involvement. 

“An inclusive play facility creates a non-threatening environment that nurtures acceptances, develops a greater understanding of one another, our likes, our dislikes,” says Vaughan Elementary special needs teacher Deborah Severin. ​“Inclusive play areas promote social integration. An inclusive accessible play area will allow children of differing abilities, to communicate and learn about one another. Developing young minds with developmental delays such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, or Autism need to be able to freely and safely climb, swing and run in a secure environment. “ 

ADA standard playgrounds are wheelchair-accessible. The playgrounds have specific colors and apparatus to accommodate visually and hearing impaired children and consist of equipment that can easily be used by children of all developmental stages. 

Playgrounds are an important part of any child’s development physically, socially and mentally. Children with special needs require even more playground interaction for learning functional educational skills. The new playground, once completed, will give all children that fun and special learning tool they need. It will also give parents of children with special needs the joy of knowing their child has the same opportunities as other children at the school.