Local school needs your votes to win $20,000 playground grant!

Five Communities Will Win Grants –
Vote for Social Circle Elementary School Daily until June 26 at http://bit.ly/1ehhPGy

SOCIAL CIRCLE, GA, June 12, 2015 – Dr Pepper Snapple and national non-profit KaBOOM! have announced Social Circle Elementary School is one of 10 finalists in the 2015 Let’s Play Video Contest. From June 15 to June 26, community members and play advocates can vote for their favorite playground video on facebook.com/letsplay. Winners will be announced on June 29.

The video contest is part of Let’s Play, an initiative by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to provide kids and families with the tools, places and inspiration to make active play a daily priority. Organizations nationwide were asked to submit videos illustrating their need for places to play for a chance to win one of five $20,000 grants, which can be used to build a new playground.

“Social Circle Elementary is extremely pleased to be one of the top ten finalists for a playground grant sponsored by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group,” said Beth Pridgen, principal of Social Circle Elementary. “At SCES, we recognize the value of active play in developing healthy minds and bodies. Our students, parents, teachers, community and Board members do, too. Everyone has worked very hard to make a new playground a reality, but playground equipment is expensive. If we are successful in securing this grant, it would truly be a dream come true. I can only imagine the looks and squeals of delight when our children see their new play area for the first time!”

Social Circle Elementary has been working to fundraise and plan for a new playground, and this grant will make its students’ long-lived playground dreams come true. The playground will also be open to the surrounding community. With a brand new playground site, plans are to build a central playscape with the money from this grant. Then, with money from the local school board and the school’s fundraising efforts, SCES will surround the playscape with areas to support athletic development and imaginative play. The school also plans to purchase needed recess equipment, like basketball goals, balls, jump ropes, and a storage shed.

Dr Pepper Snapple supports KaBOOM! in promoting and protecting a child’s right to active play at home, at school and in the community. Via Let’s Play grants and projects, Dr Pepper Snapple and KaBOOM! have built or improved more than 2,000 playgrounds since 2011, benefitting an estimated 5 million children during the lifetimes of the playgrounds.

Since 1996, KaBOOM! has been dedicated to the bold goal of bringing balanced and active play into the daily lives of all children because #playmatters. Unstructured, child-directed play has proven to help kids develop physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually, yet today’s kids have less time and fewer opportunities to play than any previous generation. As a result of Let’s Play grants and projects, more than 1 million more kids will benefit from new or improved playgrounds around the nation between 2014 and 2016.

Visit Let’s Play at www.LetsPlay.com to join the conversation and learn how to apply for other available grants to make communities more active and playful.