We will be placing a donor board inside of the school entrance vestibule to recognize all of our generous donations we have received for our new playground! We are using this money to purchase new basketball hoops, benches, paint and supplies for the blacktop sensory paths as well as playground equipment, etc. The donor board is being donated to us from Andrew Muir via Muir Omni Graphics (http://www.muirgraphics.com/). The board is going to look beautiful and it will be visible to anyone as you walk into Whittier.

Donations can still be made via PPS Foundation (https://www.ppsfoundation.org/give-to-ppsf). Click on the yellow "Donate" button and select Whittier Playground. **The cut-off for donations to be placed on this year's donor board will run through Friday, August 13th**, although donations can be made anytime during the year. All money will be reserved for the Whittier playground and playground activities held through the PPS Foundation and is tax deductible.

We are so thankful for everyone's support! We have truly come together as a school and as a community. It takes a village and this is one heck of a village to be part of!

As of today, we have raised !! $18,191.00!! So far, we have used this money in the following ways:

2 basketball hoops: $4,879.58

1 bench with plaque: $2,416.00

United States Map Stencil: $175

Additional benches: $450.00

Aupperle Installation (2 basketball hoops and 1 bench): $2,000.00

Playground balls and equipment: $1,500

Paint and Supplies (Blacktop sensory design): $2,000

We have some big plans for our sensory blacktop design, so stay tuned for some upcoming meetings and creative ideas!

Thank you ALL for helping us reach our $13,000 playground goal!

It was a dream that I wasn’t sure would come true, but you all came together and made it happen! We are just so appreciative of the support and love showered down upon our school. What I find so heartwarming are the financial donations we received from so many around the community who don’t even have children attending Whittier! This is the village of our Peoria neighbors coming together to reach this goal!

The money raised will be used to help supplement our playground structure with benches, basketball hoops, tetherball courts, etc.

Although this money goes towards the purchase of these items, it doesn’t cover the installation and labor costs. We will be reaching out to our business community for our next phase of fundraising to support the cost of installing these supplemental playground items so that we can get this up and running as quickly as possible. COVID has taken a toll on so many, especially our kids. Let’s help these little ones be kids again and give them this wonderful extended play space sooner rather than later! Stay tuned for more details about the next phase!

Our special thank you to Dr. Souhail Elhouar, the chair of the civil engineering and construction department at Bradley University. Without your in-kind donation of your labor and skills, this would not have happened. We watched as you used each installation segment as a learning experience for your students, making every part of this an outside classroom extension. Over the two days, you brought together over 40 students plus faculty to be part of this installation weekend.

We are grateful to you and your generosity!

Thank you for helping us reach our $13,000 goal!

Here’s how you can help reach the next phase of our goal

Donate one of two ways:

1. To donate online, visit http://www.ppsfoundation.org/give-to-ppsf, and click the yellow "donate" button and select, "Whittier Playground Fund".

2. Checks can also be made to the PPS Foundation with “Whittier Playground” written in the memo and delivered to the Whittier office.

We are a 501(c)(3) in partnership with the Peoria Public School Foundation (EIN is 36-4200821)

This playground is an asset to Whittier and the West Bluff community. Covid has hit Whittier families hard, children have been isolated and most indoor facilities have been closed. Having this public outdoor playground where kids can just be kids again is exactly what we so desire right now. What a great gift to give these children!

Whittier’s previous playground was 23 years old, making this new playground all the more necessary. This new playground design is about 3 times the current size and will include swings, a climbing net and a merry-go-round. We chose a castle theme to tie into the surrounding castle themed signs from Bradley University, and the Bradley University Alumni building. The colors blue and green are Whittier school colors. Please visit our webpage to see what’s happening with our playground and view our playground video, or follow us on Facebook @WhittierPlayground.

The Bradley University’s Civil Engineering & Construction department, under the direction of Dr. Souhail Elhouar, has committed to donating their time and labor for installation the weekend of April 17th.

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning”

- Mr. Fred Rogers