On Friday, October 9, Fall Creek Elementary celebrated its new playground with a community-wide ribbon-cutting ceremony. Students, families, staff, and community members gathered to mark the occasion, which began and ended with play on the new play structures and surrounding areas. The playground was constructed as part of the Ithaca City School District’s 2019 Capital Project.
What makes the playground especially meaningful is that Fall Creek students helped design it. Beginning in 2023, the district partnered with Dr. Janet Loebach of the Department of Human Centered Design in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology and her DECA Lab to bring students’ ideas for the playground to life.
The process began with researchers interviewing students about what they loved from the old playground and what they thought was missing. In November 2023, a fifth-grade class presented their ideas to researchers, district administrators, and architects from Tetra Tech. The following April, Dr. Loebach presented the co-design process and recommendations for implementation, including ideas directly from the Fall Creek students, to the Board of Education’s Facilities Committee (view the recording here).
The students’ vision is reflected throughout the finished playground. They asked for tall towers and lookouts, twisty slides, quiet areas to take a break, and spaces to play sports and games. All of these features are part of the new playground.
For Fall Creek Elementary Principal Tara Caiza, who attended Fall Creek as a student when the previous playground was built, the day was especially meaningful.
“I remember being part of that build, working alongside other children, families, and community members to create a space for generations of Fall Creek kids,” she said. “I never imagined I would be here years later, as the principal, celebrating this same tradition.”
Caiza said the tradition has continued to evolve, with students playing an even greater role in imagining and shaping the space.
“When we built the last playground, children were a part of bringing it to life,” she said. “This time, the children were a part of imagining what it could be. This playground represents a remarkable collaboration between the students, researchers, designers, architects, and other professionals who came together with a shared goal.”
A fifth-grade student, Kaisa Tillemans, also spoke at the celebration about the importance of having a voice in the project.
“This new playground is amazing because it was designed by the kids,” she said. “We had a say in what was going to be built. Can you believe the grownups who designed this space actually listened to our ideas and wishes? We are so grateful!”
Several project collaborators and community members joined the ceremony including Tetra Tech, Campus Construction, current and previous board of education members, and Congressman Josh Riley.
Caiza closed her remarks with a wish for the new space: “May the playground always be as joyful and creative as the children who helped bring it to life.”