MSE Builds Playground at Eagle Academy

On Sept. 27, more than 200 volunteers from Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Eagle Academy Public Charter School; and members of the Ward 8 community gathered on the grounds of Eagle Academy Public Charter School at Fairlawn to transform the once empty site into a kid-designed, state-of-the-art playground with the help of
KaBOOM!
, a national nonprofit focused on providing under-resourced communities with safe places to play. MSE participants included Founder, Chairman, Principal Partner and Chief Executive Officer Ted Leonsis; Wizards players Admiral Schofield and Ish Smith; and Vice President of Player Engagement for Monumental Basketball John Thompson III.

With the construction of Eagle Academy's new playground,
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation
, the nonprofit arm of one of the largest integrated sports and entertainment companies in the country, has now funded and built six playgrounds with KaBOOM!.
In 2011, the Capitals and So Kids Can partnered with KaBOOM! to create a Capitals-themed playground at Associates for Renewal in Education in Washington, D.C., and, in 2012, the groups combined their charitable might once again to build a playground with the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority at Hopkins-Tancil Court in Alexandria, Va. The first KaBOOM! playground was built 24 years ago in Washington, D.C., Since then, KaBOOM! has engaged more than one million volunteers and thousands of community and funding partners, all of whom have played a vital role in helping develop health-oriented environments for children.
The new playground at
Eagle Academy Public Charter School
at Fairlawn, which features the Capitals, Mystics, Wizards and Go-Go in its design, is part of a broader effort led by Monumental Sports and KaBOOM! to ensure communities have great interactive play spaces for kids and families.
This project illuminates the core values of KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to giving all kids - especially those living in poverty - the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to make play the easy choice and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000 play spaces, engaging over 1.5 million volunteers and serving nearly 10 million kids.
Every KaBOOM! project also incorporates a unique flare of youthful creativity in its design. KaBOOM! gives children the opportunity to design the spaces they will play in. In July, kids from the surrounding community participated in Design Day, where they creatively drew their dream play space. Eagle Academy Public Charter School's new playground is based off their drawings and will provide thousands of kids in Washington, D.C., with a fun, safe place to play.