When students at a Vermont elementary school spent years studying inclusive playground design, their principal kept every letter and drawing they made. Now those ideas have become a real playground — one where cooperative play replaces competition and every child belongs.

For years, K-2 students at Porters Point School studied inclusive playgrounds in their classrooms. They read about them, watched videos about them, wrote passionate letters about why they mattered — and drew detailed pictures of what they imagined. Those drawings sat in Principal Carolyn Millham's office, waiting.

"For years I've read these passionate pieces from kids and said, 'Yes, I would love to do this,'" Millham recalls. "And knew that we weren't in a space to do it."

Then Colchester, Vermont, made it possible. As part of a school improvement bond, Porters Point finally got the chance to transform student dreams into student reality — and Millham pulled out every one of those letters.

What happened next surprised even the Burke representatives who helped bring it together.

"They had diagrams for us, which was incredible," says Patty Tumminello, owner of Ben Shaffer Recreation, the exclusive Burke representative partner for Vermont. "You would have thought that they had already seen our products and they hadn't."

The original playground — the oldest in the district — featured overhead climbers and competition-based equipment designed for older children. Now the Volta^® Inclusive Spinner is a centerpiece of the playspace and big enough for nine kids at once. The 360 Loop^® creates opportunities for children of all abilities to play together rather than alongside each other, while the Sensory Rail runs along primary pathways for tactile exploration.

Movement options expand across the space. The Innova^® Rocker and Cirrus^® Swing offer both gentle and exhilarating experiences for different comfort levels. Viper^® Slides deliver the fun plunge every playground needs. Eko^® Climbers and the Crazy Maze Play Panel turn problem solving into group discovery — exactly the kind of cooperative play students had requested.

And at the PlayEnsemble^® musical instruments, collaborative compositions replace competitive racing.

"This particular playground really features a lot of cooperative play," Millham explains. "Very different from the old playground that was very competition-based."

The school's occupational and physical therapists reviewed every element before installation, ensuring the equipment supports motor and sensory development across a range of abilities. It's the kind of professional validation that turns good intentions into measurable outcomes.

But perhaps the truest validation comes from the community itself.

"I've been out here for the past few nights," Millham says, "and I've had many families say to me, 'We've been out here three nights in a row enjoying this playground.'"

That's the transformation that matters. What began as classroom curriculum — lessons in empathy, inclusion and design thinking — now lives in every spin, swing and climb. Students who learned about inclusive play now teach it to their younger siblings. Families who'd never had a reason to linger after pickup now settle in for the long haul.

Recesses where every child belongs. Community evenings where lessons become play.

Looking to bring more play to your school? Find your local Burke representative to get started.