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The moment the ribbon was cut to officially open the all-inclusive playground at Clanton Intermediate School on Nov. 14. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

Clanton Intermediate School students getting their first opportunity to try out the new wheelchair-specific equipment. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

Ashley Midgette Capito speaks to the crowd at the ribbon cutting event on Nov. 14. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

The new equipment on the playground focuses on inclusion and allows students in wheelchairs the opportunity to play with the other students at Clanton Intermediate School. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

Clanton Intermediate School Principal Lisa Brown welcomed the crowd to the ribbon cutting event on Nov. 14. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

The sign outside of the all-inclusive playground at Clanton Intermediate School that lists the over 60 donors towards the project. (CAREY REEDER | ADVERTISER)

By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

“If you spend all of your life focused on the things of the world that you cannot change, you will never have the energy to focus on the things that you can.”

Clanton Intermediate School held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Nov. 14 for its new all-inclusive playground that aims at giving all students at the school the equal opportunity to play with one another no matter the circumstances.

Spearheaded by CIS speech therapist Ashley Midgette Capito, the speaker of the quote above, the school received a new state-of-the-art playground that has multiple features that allow students in wheelchairs and other special needs to interact with the other students in the school and bring them all together in one space.

“It was a long time coming,” Capito said. “It is pretty amazing, and today makes you realize it was all worth it. The happiness we see on the kid’s faces, that is who we do it for, so it is a pretty great moment.”

Capito’s classroom at CIS has windows that face the playground around the back of the school. Each day that students would go out for recess she saw students in wheelchairs having to do more watching on the playground than playing with the group. Around the same time, Capito was a foster parent to two special needs children, one of which was in a wheelchair. This experience opened her eyes to the struggles of finding ways to make special needs children feel like they are still a part of the group, whatever group that may be.

“I would see all the kids in wheelchairs just sitting and watching (at recess),” Capito said. “I was able to take (my foster child) to do different things like the beach and a water park, but I realized how truly limited they are to be able to do things.”

There is an all-inclusive playground in Orange Beach that Capito took her foster son to, and he “had the time of his life.” He was able to go down the slide, go on swings and crawl around in a safe environment that was built with the intentions of making it easier for children in wheelchairs or other special needs to play and be like everyone else. Capito realized that CIS needed a playground like this one, and the journey began.

Capito partnered with different companies, held a golf tournament, brought in different sponsorships and more to help fund the project for the new all-inclusive playground. The Chilton County Board of Education and Superintendent Corey Clements pitched in to help as well, and the vision came to life on Nov. 14 with the ribbon cutting after a year-long process.

“These kids are so important to us, and the elementary students get to use it, so it is not only our kids who are blessed by it,” CIS Principal Lisa Brown said. “We had the whole community behind us, they have been amazing and Mr. Clements and the board were so supportive of this. We are so grateful for it. The smiles on (the kid’s) faces is payment enough.”

The over 60 donors are listed on a sign right outside the playground at the school. The donors listed on the sign include those who made monetary donations, but also ones who donated their time, materials and labor into creating the playground.

“You have to have (the monetary donations), but something that a lot of people do not realize is the time, energy and effort that so many people put into this,” Capito said. “The teachers here, the principal, the staff … A ton of this stuff out here is just off of time and dedication that we have done outside of school and or jobs. This would not have been possible without the hard work of our teachers, staff and all the people here at the school and those that helped out outside of the walls.”

The features on the playground that make it all-inclusive include wheelchair specific swings that allow students to ride their chairs right onto the swing, lock the door and swing back and forth. Other features include soft-impact turf that allows for those students in wheelchairs an opportunity to get out of them and crawl around on a safer surface rather than mulch, gravel or the hard ground. A wheelchair merry-go-round is also included and allows students to bring their chairs right onto the low-rise platform of the ride and spin around like a traditional one you see on most playgrounds.

The main structure on the playground has inclines onto the surface to allow wheelchairs easier access to it, has lower-set games on the sides and underneath of the structure for students to interact on the ground and easier entrances to the structure for special needs students to allow them opportunities to climb, slide down the slide or other fun activities. All of the wheelchair-specific equipment on the playground is right beside the other equipment, allowing everyone to play with each other.

“It is fun for everyone, and I think that was our big thing so everyone could play together,” Capito said. “I think that quote (on the sign) wraps up everything we did. This is small in the grand scheme of things, but we focused on it, made it happen and it changed the lives of the people around us that needed it. That is what matters.”

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