LEXINGTON — When Tiffany Snyder ran for president of Lexington’s Parent Teacher Organization, she made an important campaign promise to her kids.
“For a while they have come home saying ‘Mom, there’s not a lot to do on the playground,” Snyder said. “I told them if I ran for PTO president, I would try and do something with their blacktop.”
Snyder and the PTO fulfilled that promise earlier this month, when a host of volunteers and two local artists painted the blacktops at each elementary school and the preschool.
“Many of the schools had very old artwork that was completely faded,” Snyder said.
“I grew up with an amazing playground and that’s where you developed social skills and problem solving and you can be creative and physical. I was so thrilled that my PTO group jumped right on board and had the similar vision and we just got this done for the kids.”
Snyder secured a donation of almost $1,400 from Amanda and Brian Denney of Modern Woodman to cover the cost of paint.
PTO member Sarah Heinz recruited local artists Jess Mollet and Amanda Kencsan, who works at the Tin Can Chandelier in Ashland, to do the design.
“I thought it was a fun project — a big open canvas, basically,” Kencsan said.
“It’s important that (kids) have art. Not everyone can afford thousands of dollars for an artist to come in, but I think places like that is where it’s most needed.”
Kencsan and Mollett worked with school gym teachers to develop a plan for each space, then free-handed designs with spray paint a few days prior to painting.
“There was a kid at Eastern that came up to us, and I asked him what he would want on the playground if he could choose,” Mollet recalled. “He said that he wanted a lizard and Amanda did a lizard for him.”
After that, volunteers assembled on a Saturday to fill in the designs.
In addition to members of the PTO, 60 high school members of the National Honor Society helped with the project.
“They need community service hours for National Honor Society, but to put the time back into their own schools and the children coming up through the schools was really great to see,” Snyder said. “They were wonderful students to work with.”
Volunteers repainted court lines for basketball. They added pickleball lines and a gaga ball court. They painted hopscotch, four square courts and a bullseye. The artists even salvaged a blob of spilled paint, turning it into a portal.
PTO members said the work is inspiring creative play during recess time.
“They pretend they’re transforming to another place or another space or turning into a different person,” Heintz said of the portal.
Snyder and Heintz both said they’ve gotten positive feedback from their own kids.
“The principals, the teachers, they all have commented on how the kids are really receptive to it and are actually playing on the playground,” Snyder said.
Snyder said the PTO — which has an all new roster of officers this year — is planning additional projects like a holiday shop, father daughter dance and mother son event for later in the school year.
“The collaboration with the community and the teachers has been awesome,” Snyder said.
“We appreciate the community and the teachers and parents coming along with us on this ride because we’ve done a lot and we have a lot more we’re going to do.”
