Austin Parks Foundation helped fund the new shade structure at Gullett School Park, in partnership with the Adopt-A-Park group, the Gullett PTA.
Premiering with a ribbon cutting ceremony last week, the shade structure over the playground at Gullett Elementary now allows kids to play year-round. The Gullett PTA, which is also the Adopt-A-Park group for the park, saw how the summer heat left the playground unused for five months every year. They set out to fundraise for a new shade structure, securing almost all of the funds needed. In June, they applied for and received a $5,000 Neighborhood Grant from APF to finish the funding.
Gullett School Park is one of 24 parks jointly owned and maintained between PARD and AISD. Gullett PTA works hard to ensure all students have access to a safe, fun park. Faye Holland, the lead parks person on the PTA, has led multiple It’s My Park Day projects at Gullett. The Gullett PTA’s efforts have paid off, and now students have a safe park to play in all year long!
Completed right as school started, the new shade structure covers the entire playground. Kids can play during recess and return to class not feeling sweaty and uncomfortable. Shade can make you feel up to 20 degrees cooler and block 90% of the sun’s harmful UV radiation. APF is ecstatic to help bring shade structures just like the one at Gullett to parks all over Austin! Find out more about APF’s neighborhood grants here.