LSU biological engineering students collaborate with community members at least once a year to create a dream playground for schools and parks across South Louisiana as a part of the LSU Community Playground Project.
LSU Biological & Agricultural Engineering Department Chair Marybeth Lima started the project in 1998 after she was asked to teach a first-year design class to biological engineering students.
“Students in this major are interested in many different areas like medicine, biomedical engineering and environment,” Lima said. “So what could I pick in terms of a design project that everyone would enjoy, and what would they know something about?”
Lima picked playgrounds because they would be something all the students could connect with. Her connection to a local public school allowed LSU to collaborate with the school to plan, fund and build the playground.
After the first build, other schools started reaching out and the project has grown ever since.
This past year the project completed its 50th build at Marais Park in Assumption Parish. Students, volunteers and community members came together for this monumentous build.
Gabriella La Perna, a senior studying biological engineering, was involved in the Community Playground Project for many years and helped with the 50th playground build.
“It was my second build,” La Perna said. “My first one was a couple years ago. But seeing the community come out together to all do one thing is really awesome. It poured on us and nobody was in a bad mood, it’s just a fun time.”
Getting funding for these projects is the biggest challenge the students and community members have to face. How the funding is received varies, but recently it is the community members writing and receiving grants to have the playgrounds built for their community.
Maria Gonzales, a nutrition and community health agent with the LSU AgCenter that also serves Assumption Parish, was involved in the 50th playground. The idea was originally sparked by a Labadieville Middle School student who wanted to make improvements to the Marais Park.
“The playground equipment has been needing to be replaced at this park for a while, so the new equipment is definitely a positive change for the community,” Gonzales said. “But even greater than that, this project showed middle school students that they do have the power to make a positive difference in their own community.”
Grant Harris, a junior studying biological engineering, has been involved with the project for over a year. Harris said that the project is to help the community and keep the focus on the kids.
“We really emphasize working with the community,” Harris said. “The kids are the experts at play.”
According to ChildCare.gov, play encourages brain development, strengthens physical development, fosters emotional and social skills and encourages language development.
The focus of the project is to develop safe and accessible playgrounds for communities in need. Brian Baudoin, a senior studying biological engineering, helped to make the playground even more accessible with his background in robotics.
“I came to Lima looking for a summer opportunity to replace an internship,” Baudoin said. “Because I have a robotics minor, she wanted me to find a way to scan an overall playground with a drone and turn that into a 3D model and later turn that into a tactile map for visually-impaired kids.”
For the past 27 years the Community Playground Project has provided children from different communities access to play. LSU plans to continue the project for many years to come.
This story was edited to correct Brian Baudoin’s name. We sincerely regret this error.
