FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: May 16, 2011
Contact: Katie Amodei, PTA Volunteer, klamodei@comcast.net, 425-787-5128
LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WINS TWO $15,000 PLAYGROUND GRANTS
WITH KIDS' VIDEO SUBMISSION
LYNNWOOD, WA - Martha Lake Elementary school is now $30,000 closer to their dream of a new playground after winning a nation-wide video competition sponsored by the non-profit KaBOOM!, and receiving a matching challenge grant from the local Hazel Miller Foundation.
A fourth grade class at Martha Lake Elementary created a two-minute video as a class project to help raise funds to remodel their outdated playground equipment. The video was chosen as a top 10 finalist in the KaBOOM! "Let's Play" interactive video competition that ran from April 21 through May 10.
Over the course of the contest, members of the public could cast one online vote per day for the video of their choice, and the five playgrounds with the most votes at the end of the competition each won a $15,000 equipment grant funded by Dr Pepper Snapple Group as part of the "Let's Play" initiative, to get kids and families active nation-wide.
The Martha Lake Elementary PTA had also applied for a grant with the Hazel Miller Foundation to help improve their playground, which needs to be brought up to the current safety guidelines of the Edmonds School District. When the Hazel Miller Foundation heard about how hard the whole Martha Lake community was mobilizing to vote for the fourth-graders' video in the KaBOOM! "Let's Play" video competition, they agreed to match the winnings, plus match funds the PTA plans to earn in an upcoming auction on June 3, 2011 -- up to a total of $20,000.
"In order to win this competition, parents, teachers and kids asked everyone they know to vote for our playground video, but we also had to reach out to groups beyond our school community," explains Katie Amodei, a volunteer with the school's PTA. "We asked alumni associations, City Council members, churches, local unions, fire departments and many other groups to vote for us."
When the winners were first announced, one grade in the school was completing mandatory statewide testing, which made an announcement over the loudspeakers impossible until the testing was complete. So classrooms were informed one at a time. Anna Walter, the teacher of the class that made the video, says the energy was high at the school when students and teachers learned the results.
"We left our classroom door open to hear the reactions of the other classes when they heard the good news. It was like popcorn bursts of 'Hoorays!' and 'Whoopies!' up and down the hallways of the whole school," Walter describes. "Martha Lake kids were grinning ear to ear and hugging each other. It was a real community celebration!"
The fourth graders' video, and the other KaBOOM! video finalists can be seen at http://projects.kaboom.org/vote_2011, as well as the final results of the video competition.
About Martha Lake Elementary School:
Martha Lake Elementary School is a K-6 public school in the Edmonds School District located in Lynnwood, Washington in unincorporated Snohomish County. It is the largest elementary school in its district, with 602 students enrolled. The playground at the school is open to the general public after school hours and is the only public playground within walking distance in the neighborhood.
About the Hazel Miller Foundation
The Hazel Miller Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated to the citizens of Edmonds, Washington, and South Snohomish County, Washington. Their mission is to support programs and projects that serve the public's benefit, especially in the areas of education and youth services, poverty, alleviation of hunger, civic and community services, the environment, culture and the arts. Hazel Miller grants are designed to serve non-profit organizations operating in Edmonds and South Snohomish County.
About Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) is the leading producer of flavored beverages in North America and the Caribbean. Their success is fueled by more than 50 brands that are synonymous with refreshment, fun and flavor. They have 6 of the top 10 non-cola soft drinks, and 9 of their 12 leading brands are No. 1 in their flavor categories. In addition to our flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, their portfolio includes Sunkist soda, 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Crush, Mott's, Squirt, Hawaiian Punch, Penafiel, Clamato, Schweppes, Venom Energy, Rose's and Mr & Mrs T mixers. To learn more about the Plano, Texas-based company, visit www.drpeppersnapple.com.
About Let's Play
Let's Play is a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE: DPS) to get kids and families active nationwide. The first Let's Play initiative is a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM!, the national non-profit that's saving play. Together, through Let's Play, DPS and KaBOOM! will build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America.
About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built almost 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on a both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.
