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Chicago Tribune
7 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
From gray to green: Across Chicago, dozens of concrete schoolyards transformed into community hubs and flooding solutions
Scissors in hand, Hispanic moms in the Hegewisch neighborhood sneak into their children's schoolyard and snip herbs from the garden to season food and put a twist in their mole. The , or purslane, is part of a variety of vegetables and plants entrusted to the care of students and teachers at Grissom Elementary School. 'The neighbors are like, 'Oh my God, do you mind?'' said Esperanza Baeza, a bilingual teacher assistant at the school. She tells the parents, 'This is garden. You take whatever you want.' A decade ago, Grissom's schoolyard at 12810 S. Escanaba Ave. was not the vibrant space it now is. The tree-lined streets flanking the property stood in stark contrast to 2 acres of dull concrete where the children would play during recess. Now, the school has a native plant garden brimming with tall grass, flowers and butterflies, a new swing set and additional playground equipment, a basketball court, a running track circling a soccer field and an outdoor class area. 'This was just asphalt. There was nothing,' Baeza said. 'It was a really old little piece of swing. Not even a swing, like a slide. That was it.' The new spaces are also redesigned to address heavy rains in neighborhoods historically vulnerable to serious flooding, particularly on the South and West sides of the city. In 2014, Chicago-based Healthy Schools Campaign, a national nonprofit that works to ensure schools can provide students with healthy environments, nutritious food, health services and opportunities for physical activity — transformed playgrounds at Grissom and three other schools. Since then, the Space to Grow program has turned 36 barren yards at public schools across Chicago into green community hubs; five more redesign projects are breaking ground this summer. Claire Marcy, senior vice president of Healthy Schools Campaign, recalls principals from different schools echoing the same concerns: 'Look at my outdoor space,' they'd say. 'It's concrete, it's broken equipment. When it rains, it's just giant puddles.' Human-made climate change is only intensifying heavy storms in the Midwest that more easily overwhelm Chicago's outdated sewer system. At Grissom, permeable surfaces and the water retention system can hold nearly 254,000 gallons at once, and drain quickly between storms. One of the most recently redesigned schoolyards, which opened at Spencer Technology Academy in Austin this May, can capture more than 625,000 gallons of water each year. Experts hope the redesign will help mitigate heavy rains like those that occurred in July 2023, when most 311 calls for basement flooding came from the West Side neighborhood, a predominantly Black community in an area with high flood risk. Many of the schoolyards have permeable play surfaces that absorb water into the ground. Some also have underground storage systems — large chambers that slow the release of water into the local sewer system. When the pipes, which carry both stormwater runoff and sewage, are quickly overwhelmed, they can overflow and cause localized flooding issues across the city. Pavers coil into a spiral design at Grissom's outdoor classroom stage area, also part of the redesign. But the bricks are not held together by any kind of concrete or plastic edging, which would leave rainwater with nowhere to go. 'If you look at the little stones in between the cracks, that's what allows the water to seep through,' said Emily Zhang, project manager at Space to Grow. So far, the program has added over 650,000 square feet — the equivalent of 11 football fields — of permeable surfaces to Chicago's land area, according to its staff. The actual total might be even higher, however, if grass and other green elements that can also capture rainfall are considered. It all acts like a sponge, Zhang said. For instance, natural landscaping and design strategies in the redesigns that soak up precipitation include rain and native pollinator gardens or bioswales, which are shallow landscape depressions that hold water, allowing it to seep into the ground. 'No schoolyard looks the same,' Zhang said. 'People define green stormwater infrastructure differently, but for us, (they) look like green spaces, or spaces that mimic natural processes of handling water in the water cycle.' Plants of all kinds grow in the garden, edible and otherwise: onions, radishes, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, snap peas, milkweed and sunflowers. 'There's, of course, all the native plants that have deep roots,' Zhang said. 'If it were (just a) lawn, then we would see continued flooding issues.' Scattered along the western edge of the schoolyard are patches of ornamental and native plants and grasses, including purple cornflowers. The first five years, Baeza said, entailed a lot of watering and removing weeds. Every other year, she takes cuttings from some of the herbal plants to create new patches of vegetation. While Chicago Public Schools has contracts for schoolyard maintenance, students and teachers at the redesigned spaces often participate in daily and regular tasks to care for them, especially the gardens. 'There's a lot of conversation with the students and the school teams about this: How do we make this your schoolyard that you want to help maintain?' Marcy said. 'There's that everyday stuff about sort of loving and owning the schoolyard … students have really taken ownership over that.' Inspiring that ownership starts from the beginning of the design process, which involves all students, teachers, administrators and also the broader community. Since the yards remain open after school and on the weekends, they serve as a public park. 'It's really the only community space on this side of Hegewisch that's accessible,' said Christine Hurley, Grissom's principal Through the collaborative design process, the final elements in each schoolyard respond to needs that might vary across institutions and neighborhoods. Students take surveys, do mapping activities and even create 3D dioramas to bring their visions to life. 'We really value the power of student voices,' Zhang said, 'because students and children and young people, in general, are an overlooked population and demographic when it comes to development and making decisions about what happens in their neighborhood. And they're our future leaders.' On a recent weekday morning, some students were watering the community garden beds as part of summer school programming. They had just wrapped up a yoga and meditation session. Once transformed, these play and learning spaces also provide the school and community with a place of relaxation and well-being. Four years after Grissom opened its new schoolyard, researchers from Loyola University and the University of California at Berkeley found the redesigns there and at two of the other schools had increased the use of outdoor space, positive student interactions, greater physical activity, higher teacher satisfaction, and strengthened the relationships between the schools and their communities. Baeza's phone rang. It was a student's mother. 'She's the one (who) helps me with the garden,' the teacher said. 'We have parents that are very dedicated.' In 2022, the school received an Excellence in Gardening Award from a committee including the University of Illinois Extension, the Shedd Aquarium, Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Chicago Community Gardeners Association. Baeza had named it or Garden of Harmony. 'Because this is what I want, this is what I envision: Building community, being in a place, a harmonious place — we're here to be like a family, let the children learn,' she said.


CBS News
14-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Chicago program develops school playgrounds that capture stormwater, prevent floods
A new playground has been built in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood — and it has more purposes than just recreation for young people. The playground is located behind Ronald Brown Elementary Academy, at 12607 S. Union Ave. It includes a basketball court, football field, and running track, and children's playground equipment. Most importantly, it can capture more than 300,000 gallons of water — which won't flood homes or streets in the community. "Green spaces are really a respite and a cooler space for the community, to kind of shield them from the impacts of climate change as our world gets warmer," said Jessica Fong, director of education at Openlands, a conservation nonprofit. Openlands and another nonprofit, the Healthy Schools Campaign, came together to develop the Space to Grow program — which is dedicated to transforming schoolyards using green infrastructure to manage stormwater and reduce flooding. "We bring more nature to the communities, we bring a beautiful playground, and we're managing the flooding that will hit the communities with less green space," said Jennifer Tani, president and chief executive officer of the Healthy Schools Campaign. The two nonprofits are partnering with the Chicago Public Schools, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and the Chicago departments of Environment and Water Management, to make the Space to Grow program possible. Before the transformation at Ronald Brown Elementary Academy, the schoolyard featured a small children's playground and a vast expanse of asphalt parking lot space. Now, that asphalt has been transformed into green space. Health equity and climate resilience are the major focus in Space to Grow projects. Experts have noted that our changing climate affects parts of Chicago differently. "We really select schools that are in areas of high need that have been under-resourced for a really long time," said Fong. Lindy Wordlaw leads climate and environmental justice initiatives with the Chicago Department of Environment. "Oftentimes on our city's South and West sides, the communities are first impact by climate change and least equipped to respond to it," Wordlaw said. "How can we get water out of basements? Of course, it involves improving the system itself, but there are natural ways to capture water." The 36 Space to Grow playgrounds across the city all feature underground chamber systems acting as sponges gradually releasing water into the ground. They capture up to 7 million gallons of water every time it rains. Altogether, the Space to Grow program has transformed 1,469,400 square feet of land into multifunctional park and green space, the city said. At Ronald Brown, the kids love the new playground too. Charles Mayfield, chief operating officer for Chicago Public Schools, said the space is for the entire community. "What we're trying to do here with Space to Grow is create a better environment for our students," said Brown. The official ribbon cutting at Ronald Brown happens Monday. Space to Grow is also working on five more similar playgrounds over the summer, which will be ready for the next school year. The Healthy Schools Campaign just published its 10-year report for Space to Grow.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Survey Finds Medicaid Cuts Would Devastate School Staffing and Services
As public education comes under attack on a number of fronts, school leaders are sounding the alarm about potential significant cuts to Medicaid. This federal-state partnership covers comprehensive and preventive physical, behavioral and mental health services and provides critical funding to K-12 schools and students. Medicaid is among the largest federal funding streams for K-12 public school-based health and mental health services, helping to pay for $7.5 billion in services every year. It is also the largest source of federal funds to states; a significant federal cut would shift more costs to them, threatening major budget reductions in other state spending priorities — including for K-12 education. Medicaid provides health coverage to about 40% of America's children, giving them access to the care they need to show up for school ready to learn. About 20% of children under 18 have a physical or mental health issue such as asthma, diabetes, vision impairment or anxiety that can affect their success in the classroom. If not appropriately managed, these conditions can adversely affect attendance, learning ability, motivation, academic performance and the chances of graduating from high school. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter To better understand what's at stake, Healthy Schools Campaign and its partners — AASA, Association of School Business Officials International, National Alliance for Medicaid in Education and Council of Administrators of Special Education — surveyed school district leaders, administrators and staff to assess how steep reductions in federal funding would affect seven major areas: specialized instructional support personnel; mental and behavioral health services; student resources, including equipment and technology; prevention and early intervention services; care coordination and referral services; physical health services; and Medicaid outreach and enrollment services. A total of 1,440 responses were submitted from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Among the respondents, 45% identified their school district as rural, 34% as suburban and 17% as urban. The results clearly demonstrate the critical role Medicaid performs in meeting students' needs — especially in rural districts, where a larger share of children are covered by Medicaid than in metropolitan areas and schools play an outsize role in providing health care. Respondents anticipate that the proposed cuts would deeply and negatively impact school health services and students' ability to access the help they need to learn: 80% of respondents expect reductions to school health staff and personnel, including layoffs 70% expect reductions to mental and behavioral health services 62% expect a reduction in resources, including assistive equipment and technology for students with disabilities 73% expect Medicaid cuts would lead to reductions across three or more of the seven major areas related to student health 90% anticipate that Medicaid cuts would lead to reductions across their district's budget, outside of school health services. Survey respondents reported that Medicaid cuts will have serious negative effects on academic outcomes and attendance, increase staff burnout and reduce quality of services; reduce prevention and the availability of care; and add to families' financial and emotional strain. 'We would not have the capacity to support students with mental and physical health services and purchase supplies needed to aid in education,' said one respondent, a school business official from Pennsylvania. 'Students with speech issues would lose the early interventions,' a speech and language paraprofessional from Nevada wrote. 'We would not be able to help them, and future success would be harder and create bigger gaps in their reading, math and social skills for lack of ability to communicate properly.' 'A reduction in mental health providers will directly impact access to care for all students, reduced achievement, higher dropout rates, risk of court involvement and higher risk of suicide and self-harm,' wrote a school psychologist from Michigan. Since 1988, Medicaid has permitted payment to schools for medically necessary services provided to children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and documented in a special education plan. In 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services clarified Medicaid policy and allowed schools to seek reimbursement for all covered health services provided to all students enrolled in the program. Today, 25 states bill for at least some services provided to all Medicaid-covered students, including nursing and counseling by school psychologists. If the proposed cuts go through, states and school districts could be forced to raise taxes and reduce or eliminate programs, including health services for students. The survey respondents emphasize what is already clear — the proposed drastic reductions to the federal Medicaid program will harm students and impede them on their road to success. Medicaid is critical to ensuring that children are ready to learn and, eventually, enter into society and become part of their communities.