Students at Mary Lin Elementary School enjoy their new playground.
The Mary Lin Elementary School community was excited to celebrate its recent playground ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Groundbreaking on the school’s renovation and addition started in the fall of 2013, so the children were enthusiastic to be back on the Mary Lin playground again! Students, parents, faculty and Atlanta Public Schools board members Leslie Grant, Matt Westmoreland, and Cynthia Briscoe Brown attended the event. Mary Lin’s principal, Sharon Briscoe, welcomed the community, while Jane Smith, playground committee chair for Mary Lin Education Foundation, thanked all of the many contributors and volunteers who made this all possible.
Included in the new play area are a new slide mountain, swings, life-size chess set, basketball and four-square court, and a small track running around the playground. During the ceremony, children and adults had a fun day checking out the beautiful new area while enjoying refreshments and activities, sponsored by YP and Mary Lin Elementary PTA.
A very important new addition to the playground is the Buddy Bench where children can sit when feeling shy or lonely, and other children know to invite them to play or walk and talk. It is a simple idea to foster friendship and inspire inclusion and kindness on the playground. The Buddy Bench was dedicated at the ceremony to beloved Mary Lin guidance counselor, Brenda Stroman, who passed away this past month.
Also, a teacher bench was dedicated to Cynthia Stanley, a dear Mary Lin kindergarten paraprofessional, who passed away a couple of years ago.
Mary Lin is so appreciative for all of the support from the community. The students are looking forward to many fun-filled years of playing on this wonderful playground!
Submitted by:Â Teresa Tinney, Mary Lin Elementary Playground Committee member
