​Casita Center for Technology, Science, and Math wins Imagination Playground In A Box System

 

 

Vista, Ca February 11, 2011– Last July, Parents, KaBOOM!, the nonprofit organization on a mission to save play, and Foresters^TM, a life insurance provider that champions the well-being of families, launched a contest to give three deserving communities an Imagination Playground in a Box.

 

With a focus on loose parts, David Rockwell’s Imagination Playground offers a changing array of elements that allows children to constantly reconfigure their environment and to design their own course of play. Giant foam blocks, mats, wagons, fabric and crates overflow with creative potential for children to play, dream, build and explore endless possibilities. Each Imagination Playground in a Box is worth $25,000. For more information about these playgrounds, go to www.imaginationplayground.org

 

More than 650 communities across North America entered their playgrounds into the contest. To win, communities earned points for their playground by posting pictures to an online record, hosting meet ups and rallying other community members to “virtually” support their local playspace. In the end, Parents Magazine, KaBOOM! and Foresters awarded one of the innovative new playgrounds to Casita Center. Casita Center is a math, science, technology magnet school in Vista Unified School District.

When we saw the Imagination Playground, we knew this concept of play would enhance our magnet theme. Not only would students attend weekly specialty classes in science and technology, they’d also be able to build in a 21st century playground! Our parents were so excited about this playground; they rallied their friends, co-workers and family to vote. Volunteers stood in our quad with their laptops and showed parents who didn’t have Internet access or email how to register and vote. Then parents used our computer lab every morning to vote when they dropped their children off at school. It was a real community building campaign.

 

Now Casita Center has received their new play equipment system and will be unveiling it in an event open only to the press.

 

When: February 22 (9:50-11:30 am)
Where: Casita Center, 260 Cedar Road, Vista, CA 92083

For more information about Casita Center and other winners, go to: http://www.parents.com/blogs/goodyblog/2010/10/and-the-winners-are/

 

About Parents Magazine
Parents, published monthly by Meredith Corporation, has been America's #1 family magazine for more than 80 years. Since its inception in 1926, it has been a trusted source by every generation of parents. Currently, the magazine is a powerful community of nearly 15 million readers devoted to supporting the efforts of parents, educators and other citizens who strive to make the world a better place for our children. Parents can be found online at www.parents.com.

 

About the City of Long Beach
Home to approximately 500,000 people, the City of Long Beach is one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the United States, offering all the world-class amenities of a large metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of community and neighborhood pride. The city manages 160 parks and open space acres on over 3,000 acres and six miles of beaches. The Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department was named “Best in the Nation” by the National Recreation and Parks Association in 2006, 1998, 1988 and 1976.

 

About Foresters
Founded in 1874 as a fraternal benefit society, Foresters^TM champions the well-being of families through quality life insurance, unique member benefits and inspiring community activities. Foresters shares its financial strength with more than 765,000ˆ members in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Unity Life of Canada‡, a wholly owned subsidiary of Foresters, represents Foresters in Canada. For more information, please visit www.foresters.com.

 

About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is a national non-profit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since 1995, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,800 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America. KaBOOM! also offers a variety of resources, including an online community, free online trainings, grants, publications and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play, which includes Playful City USA and Playmakers – a national network of individual advocates for play. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

 

About Rockwell Group
Rockwell Group is an award winning, cross-disciplinary 120-person architecture and design firm specializing in cultural, hospitality, retail, product, and set design. Based in New York, with satellite offices in Madrid and Dubai, the firm crafts a unique narrative and an immersive environment for each project. Rockwell’s interest in theater has informed much of the firm’s work, which includes the W Hotel, Union Square; Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel; Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis New York, the central Marketplace of the JetBlue terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport; set design for the 2009 and 2010 Academy Awards ceremonies; the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, Nobu restaurants worldwide, set designs for Broadway’s “Hairspray,”and the upcoming “Houdini;” Canyon Ranch Living in Miami; the Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center; and the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. David Rockwell was honored with the 2009 Pratt Institute Legends Award,and the 2008 National Design Award for Interior Design from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt. For more information, please visit www.rockwellgroup.com.

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