By: Elaine Liu

On a sunny weekday at the end of the school year, a couple of students shot baskets into a shiny orange hoop on the schoolyard at Add B. Anderson School in West Philadelphia.

About a year ago, these students had to shoot into a trash can that they would take outside, a teacher recounted.

“That yard was literally just concrete,” said Laurena Zeller, the principal at Anderson. “Broken concrete with little weeds between.”

However, a lot has changed since then.

There’s a running track, basketball court, picnic tables, new play equipment, and shade is provided by newly planted trees. Two new rain gardens have been built and filled with colorful flowers that are meant to keep stormwater from polluting creeks nearby.

The renovation efforts are now part of the nationwide initiative to create more green space for low-income communities. This program is run by the Trust for the Public Land, a national nonprofit that makes parks and outdoor places accessible to anyone.

Uniquely, the schoolyard transformation was led by students (with adults watching, of course).

“Having 8- and 9-year-olds kind of navigate that process and have autonomy and voice, and then design it and then get feedback and then present the final project – it’s beautiful,” says Anderson principal Zeller. “I think it’s life-changing. I just can’t even not get emotional when I think about the impact of that.”

This action by these 3rd graders was an incredible effort in their community.