This Heartwarming Minnesota Student Led Story Will Make You Cry
Glen Lake Elementary School is the home to many many kids, and those kids understand not only what Minnesota Nice is, but what it means to be a kind human.
When the kids go outside for recess there is a lot for some to do. However, for others with certain disabilities there isn’t much. Glen Lake has many students with physical disabilities and unfortunately the playground is not equipped to include them in the fun.
Many students from Betsy Julien's fifth grade class noticed this, and they wanted to do something about it. One day a couple students asked Julien if they could buy them playground equipment.
Julien loved the idea but told the kids “Do you know how much that costs?! It costs a lot of money.' But that did not stop the Kids!
CBS shares that the kids were undeterred, even if the equipment they wanted cost about $300,000!
"It just didn't seem fair that some kids were just left out," Wyatt Feucht said.
"And it's really sad to see other kids go through that," Me'Ayila Priere said.
"They didn't look happy, and recess is about having fun," Rhys Riley added.
The kids did everything under the sun to help raise money: They started collecting spare change, then held a bake sale. They then printed flyers and went door to door, began cold-calling businesses, and even got restaurants to donate a portion of their profits. This went on for months!
And finally just about 2 weeks ago, they met their goal with support from the Glen Lake Parent Teacher Organization.
CBS shares that “Riley says it was overwhelming to know that their hard work finally led to a more inclusive playground. As for the kids who'll benefit, they seemed to appreciate the effort almost more than the result.”
"First time I set foot on this playground I'm probably going to start crying from seeing the effort that all the school has made," said John Buettner, who is in a wheelchair.
Julien, who is so moved by her students, states that
"My future as an adult is bright knowing that this generation of students, of changemakers, sees something that needs fixing, and they go for it headfirst.”
And the kids are not done yet! Now that they have raised enough for their school, they hope to buy adaptive playground equipment for other schools in the district.
All information is credited to the article and video from cbsnes.com.