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CHICAGO CHILDREN to DESIGN DREAM PLAYGROUND: the CATALYST SCHOOLS, BLUE CROSS and BLUE SHIELD of ILLINOIS and Kaboom! HOST DESIGN DAY for NEW PLAYGROUND

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CHICAGO CHILDREN to DESIGN DREAM PLAYGROUND: the CATALYST SCHOOLS, BLUE CROSS and BLUE SHIELD of ILLINOIS and Kaboom! HOST DESIGN DAY for NEW PLAYGROUND FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michael Fehrenbach, The Catalyst Schools, 773-897-5817, [email protected] Mary Ann Schultz, BCBSIL, 312-653-6701, [email protected] Alyssa Ross, KaBOOM!, 202-464-6162, [email protected] CHICAGO CHILDREN TO DESIGN DREAM PLAYGROUND: THE CATALYST SCHOOLS, BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF ILLINOIS AND KaBOOM! HOST DESIGN DAY FOR NEW PLAYGROUND WHAT: The Catalyst Schools, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, and organizers from KaBOOM! will host a design day for children at Sojourn on Monday, June 3, 2013. Children from The Catalyst Schools–Maria, will put crayon to paper and draw their dream playgrounds, which will ultimately become a reality. Elements from the children’s drawings will be incorporated into the final design for the new playground to be built on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at Catalyst–Maria. Design day will be the first meeting of the playground planning committee that will work for the next seven weeks to plan and prepare for the construction of the new playground. WHY: Today’s kids spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 children live within walking distance of a park or playground. This play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically, emotionally and cognitively. Children need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy, something KaBOOM! has been committed to since 1996. The new playground will provide more than 540 children in the neighborhood with a safe place to play. This will be a new playground for the school, as there is not currently playground equipment on-site. This playground will be the 17th built by KaBOOM! and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and is one of more than 150 playground builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2013 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. The project is part of “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families,” a three-year initiative designed to improve the health and wellness of children through community investments by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families” invests in non-profit organizations that encourage health education, promote physical activity, prevent and manage disease, and support safe environments for children. WHEN: Monday, June 3, 2013 2 to 3 pm Children designing their dream playground 3 to 6 pm Volunteers participating in planning meeting WHERE: 6727 South California Avenue Chicago, IL 60629 VISUALS: Children drawing their dream playgrounds Before shots of the site The Catalyst Schools Located in Chicago, Illinois, Catalyst Schools is a network of high-performing, values-based, college-preparatory K-12 charter schools with graduate support components. Catalyst offers a quality free-tuition education option to families experiencing the effects of economic instability and whose communities have not been adequately served by existing schools. Organized in 2005, Catalyst operates charter schools in three of Chicago’s neediest neighborhoods: North Lawndale (Howland Charter), Austin (Circle Rock Charter), and Chicago Lawn (Maria Charter Elementary and High Schools). Mission Statement: The Catalyst Schools believe that every child possesses inherent value and potential, regardless of background, educational level or life circumstances. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois With more than 7 million members, BCBSIL, a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, is the largest health insurance company in Illinois. Started in 1936, BCBSIL is committed to promoting the health and wellness of its members and its communities through accessible, cost-effective, quality health care. Healthy Kids, Healthy Families “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families” is a three-year initiative designed to encourage health education, promote physical activity, prevent and manage disease, and support safe environments for children. The program works through investments and partnerships with nonprofit organizations that offer sustainable, measurable programs to reach children directly, through schools and other third parties. Major founding partners include The OrganWise Guys, KaBOOM! and mobile health vans. The program is supported by Health Care Service Corporation and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. For more information or to seek partnership and funding opportunities, please visit www.HealthyKidsHealthyFamilies.org. KaBOOM! KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving kids the childhood they deserve by bringing play to those who need it most. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. Social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! in 1996 in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America because children need to play actively every day at home, in school and in their communities. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 90,000 places to play, built more than 2,300 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: A Movement to Save Play, now out in paperback. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has an office in San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org. # # # .
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