{"id":412510,"date":"2024-08-23T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=412510"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Church-of-Jesus-Christ-builds-playground-for-children-with-special-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Church-of-Jesus-Christ-builds-playground-for-children-with-special-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Church of Jesus Christ builds playground for children with special needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

When special education students arrive for the start of school this year on Kosrae, a new playground will be waiting for them.<\/p>\n

Donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of its humanitarian program, the new specialized playground toys will greatly increase the ability of teachers to meet the needs of Kosrae\u2019s special needs students, particularly those with severe disabilities.<\/p>\n

The playground toys are designed specifically for students with special needs. Included in the donation are swings, climbing bars, a mini-climbing wall, a slide, a teeter-totter, a rocking horse, a sandbox, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a great benefit, not just for our students, but for the community and neighborhood,\u201d said Isao Mike, president of Kosrae Special Parent Network. \u201cAfter school hours the playground will be open so that families from the community can come and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isao also stated that plans are also in place to provide lighting, a perimeter fence, and appropriate ground covering to assure cleanliness and safety. An eventual overhead shade cover for the playground is also in the planning stages. \u201cI would possibly like to add a small water slide,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Fencing for the playground has already been delivered and is scheduled to be installed by volunteers from the United States Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be an opening ceremony to celebrate when everything is in place,\u201d said Isao.<\/p>\n

Likiaksa Elesha, coordinator of Special Education in Kosrae, described the equipment\u2019s value in meeting the needs of the school\u2019s severely multi-disabled group in the least restrictive environment.<\/p>\n

Of the school district\u2019s 127 enrolled special education students, 19 are classified as SMD. Most are also autistic. Special education students receiving services from the Kosrae DOE range from 3 to 21 years of age.<\/p>\n

Daily opportunities for play and physical activity are paramount in providing these students with a learning environment in which they can learn and thrive, but resources such as appropriate playground equipment are essential. The donated equipment is designed specifically for the needs and limitations of SMD students.<\/p>\n

\u201cPreviously, due to limited resources the SMD children were only pulled in for specialized instruction once a week,\u201d Elesha explained. \u201cThe new playground equipment helps allow us to pull them in on a daily basis so that we can better meet their developmental needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bill Davis, Welfare and Self-reliance manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who directs the church\u2019s humanitarian efforts in Micronesia, gave his assurances that the Church will continue its efforts to serve those in need in the Kosrae community. (PR)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Welfare and Self-reliance manager Bill Davis poses with two others in front of the donated new playground with specialized toys.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

The new swings, mini-climbing wall, and slide that is part of the specialized playground toys donated by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

More of the specialized playground swings donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When special education students arrive for the start of school this year on Kosrae, a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-412510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}