Waupaca school up for grant for accessible playground

WAUPACA, Wis. (WSAW) -- The Waupaca Learning Center Elementary School is one of five finalists, and the only school in Wisconsin, up for a $100,000 dollar grant to create a handicapped accessible playground for its students.

About 10% of students at Waupaca Learning Center Elementary School are considered special needs. After a few teachers approached Parent Teacher Group President Liz Kneer, she decided to take action.

"Our current playground is not ADA accessible, we have a few play structures and one is in pretty bad shape, so we want to get that one out of there," Kneer said.

Kneer found a grant they could apply for with help from a district teacher and spent days working on the application.

"It was a very extensive application process," Kneer said.

Kneer was happy to submit the grant, and she was surprised when the school was selected as one of the top 10 in the nation. But now that they're in the top five, she's determined to win.

"It's a huge opportunity coming from a small community and funding for schools in general can be pretty limited," Kneer said.

Now, Kneer is turning to her community for help because the project in the top five with the most votes is the one that takes home the money.

"This would be such an important thing for us to have to have those kids feel included. There's one little guy in the picture for our playground grant and the look on his face when we talked to him about it is priceless," Kneer said.

To vote for the school click here.