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From YouTube: Rafael Hernandez School Playground Ribbon Cutting
Description
Students at the Rafael Hernandez K-8 School in Roxbury can play in a brand new schoolyard that was created in part by their former classmates. Two years ago the students, who are currently in ninth grade, advocated for the new schoolyard, obtained community support and met with architects before presenting their findings to the city. Their work helped fund the new playground that future students can now enjoy.
A
B
B
See
elegant
pas
nosotros
que
le
gustarĂa
tener
todo
lo
que
es
valassir
el
alcalde
el
superintendente,
lo
que
estoy
hablando
yo
en
espanol
le
tenemos
copias
solamente
tienen
que
de
Hornos
a
ver
con
su
mano
y
la
vamos,
a
are
copies
de
todo.
Lo
que
se
mother
seal
oil.
We
want
to
make
sure
that
folks
feel
that
they
can
access
everything
that
everyone
is
saying
up
here
in
both
English
and
Spanish.
So
if
you
would
like
a
copy
of
everything
that
we're
saying
up
here,
we
actually
have
copies
for
everyone
who
needs
it.
B
We
know
estudiantes
we've
taken
quite
a
while
to
be
able
to
celebrate
this
I
know
we've
been
playing,
but
this
is
our
first
time
we
actually
get
together
and
really
be
in
community
to
really
show
how
excited
we
are
about
our
new
playground,
and
we
have
some
special
guests
that
want
to
say
hello
to
you
and
want
to
celebrate
with
us.
So
I
am
going
to
first
ask
our
wonderful
teacher
for
Salma
to
begin
the
musical
portion
of
our
time
together.
C
C
D
When
you
look
at
this
amazing
schoolyard,
you
might
not
realise
that
it
exists
because
of
26
ninth
graders
and
the
work
we
did
when
we
were
in
the
seventh
and
eighth
grades.
It
all
started
when
we
were
when
we
a
younger
student,
it
all
started
when
a
younger
student
wrote
a
letter
to
principal
on
saying
that
we
needed
to
redo
the
schoolyard,
because
it
was
rundown,
dangerous
and
in
serious
need
of
renovation,
but
instead
of
having
a
bunch
of
adults,
decide
the
yard.
We
thought
it
would
be
best
for
the
students
to
leave
this
work.
D
So
we
started
the
schoolyard
class
Angela,
Rubinstein
and
just
Madame
Foucault's
were
the
teachers.
What
did
we
do
in
this
class
when
we
were
in
seventh
grade?
We
worked
on
answering
the
questions.
What
do
we
want
our
school
to
include?
How
can
it
be
a
place
for
all
ages
and
students
to
have
fun
and
what
are
the
best
playground
designs
out
there?
D
We
knew
we
couldn't
learn
from
just
the
books
and
the
internet,
so
we
took
field
trips
to
some
of
the
best
playgrounds
in
the
Boston
area
we
played
with
our
younger
schoolmates
and
then
interviewed
them
and
surveyed
them,
and
then
we
tallied
the
results
to
see
what
play
structures
they
liked
the
best
we
presented
to
families
and
also
staff
to
see
what
they
would,
what
they
thought
would
be
best
for
our
school
yard.
Then
we
interviewed
our
youngest
students,
our
k1
k2
and
first
graders,
to
let
them
vote
for
their
favorite
designs.
D
Then
we
work
on
our
architect
and
stuff
from
VPS
park
facilities
to
put
these
ideas
into
one
design.
In
some
ways
it
felt
like
our
work
should
be
over,
but
we
had
only
raised
$60,000,
which
was
not
nearly
enough.
So
then
we
fundraised,
we
organized
dance.
We
sold
food
at
family
events,
we
went
to
Lowe's
and
applied
for
their
playground
grant,
but
we
still
didn't
have
enough
money,
but.
E
We
did
not
give
up
even
when
we
had
no
school
yard
class.
Last
year's
eighth
graders
met
with
city
counselors.
We
met
with
people
from
the
mayor's
office
and
the
Boston
Public
Schools
we
presented
to
the
school
committee.
Some
of
these
meetings
were
fun,
but
some
were
not.
We
did
not
give
up,
we
prepared
more
powerpoints,
he
practiced
more
presentations
and
then
I
presented
to
mayor
Walsh
at
first.
You
want
to
show
that
what
the
mayor
thought,
but
then
we
talked
about
the
research
we
had
done.
E
We
showed
him
how
we
had
involved
the
whole
school
community
and
designing
the
school
yard.
We
told
him
that
this
neighborhood
and
the
children
in
this
neighborhood-
and
we
told
him
that
this
neighborhood
and
the
children
in
this
neighborhood
and
the
children
in
the
school
deserve
better
than
this.
The
community
deserves
an
amazing
playground.
The
mayor
called
principal
Ana
within
a
few
days.
Instead,
he
had
been
thinking
about
the
8th
grade,
students
and
our
presentation,
and
we
were,
and
he
was
going
to
make
sure
he
found
the
money
to
renovate
the
schoolyard.
E
One
of
my
favorite
memories
was
after
we
got
the
big
donation
from
the
mayor
and
we
were
giving
them
those
to
the
kids
and
we
told
them
how
much
money
we
got
and
they
had
no
idea
what
it
meant
and
they
still
cheered
and
applauded.
We
started
this
project
thinking
we
were
going
to
be
able
to
enjoy
the
playground
we
were
devastated
when
we
realized
wouldn't
be
built
until
after
we
graduated,
but
we
turned
it
into
our
legacy.
F
Thank
You,
Jose
and
Lorraine
I'm
so
happy
to
be
here
today.
I
know
almost
all
of
you
for
those
who
I
don't
know.
My
name
is
Jess
Madden
Fuko
when
superintendent
Chang
saw
me
here
last
year.
He
wasn't
sure
my
connection
to
the
school
community,
but
I
have
a
5th
grader
here
and
I
worked
here
for
three
years.
F
So
that's
how
I
know
most
of
you
so
I'm
so
happy
to
be
here
today
and
to
have
had
the
chance
to
be
the
teacher
of
the
school
yard
class
with
Angela
Rubinstein
Mabel
Castillo
said
one
of
our
ninth
graders
said
it
best
when
she
presented
to
the
mayor
last
year.
She
said
our
students
deserve
this
school
yard
and
this
neighborhood
deserves
this
playground.
F
Margarita
wanted
to
make
sure
that
students
in
Boston
had
access
to
a
bilingual
education
and
she,
and
so
many
her
the
staff
have
spent
years
of
their
lives
fighting
for
you
to
have
this
opportunity
at
the
Hernandez.
This
treasure
this
gift
to
be
bilingual.
You
deserve
this
schoolyard
and
you
deserve
the
incredible
bilingual
education.
You
are
getting
at
the
hernandez.
F
Another
important
lesson
we
can
learn
from
this
project
is
that
some
of
the
best
learning
happens
when
we
get
out
of
the
classroom
and
do
real
work.
The
learning
that
students
experienced
in
this
project
is
likely
to
stay
with
them
longer
than
a
worksheet
or
a
research
paper.
Students
deserve
these
kinds
of
learning.
Opportunities
and
adults
have
to
push
themselves
to
engage
students
in
solving
these
kinds
of
problems
that
have
yet
to
be
solved.
I
am
beyond
grateful
for
the
opportunity
I
had
to
work
so
closely
with
Angela
and
the
students
on
this
project.
F
I
think
you
learn
a
lot
about
people
in
situations
like
these,
ninth
graders
were
in.
They
had
worked
so
hard
in
seventh
grade
to
do
all
the
research,
and
then
they
continued
in
eighth
grade
to
do
all
the
fundraising,
even
after
they
knew
they
wouldn't
be
able
to
play
on
the
yard
as
students.
That's
when
you
really
learn
about
what
generous
kind
amazing
people
these
ninth
graders
are.
So
thank
you
all.
F
These
26
ninth
graders
gave
us
this
schoolyard
it's
a
place,
so
many
Hernandez
children
and
so
many
neighborhood
children
will
enjoy
for
years
to
come,
including
my
own
two
daughters,
Sojourner
who's
in
the
fifth
grade
here
and
Malala
who's,
starting
in
the
fall.
There
are
so
many
people
who
made
this
project
possible
and
I'm
sure,
Anna
and
I
will
miss
them.
But
first
I'd
like
to
thank
Anna,
are
amazing:
principled,.
B
B
The
teachers
and
staff
of
the
Anan
destroy
the
ones
that
support
all
of
the
work
that
happens
at
the
end
of
this,
and
you
are
really
the
reason
why
our
students
are
as
amazing
as
they
are
I
want
to
also
thank
John,
the
amazing
architect.
Where
are
you
John?
Oh,
thank
you.
So
much
for
all
your
time.
Dedication
and
passion
for
this
project
I
also
want
to
take
some
time
to
thank
a
very
important
parent
to
the
Atlantis
and
also
a
board
member
Maria,
Dominguez
gray,
for
all
of
her
tenacity
and
support.
B
B
Nora
block
also
a
wonderful
and
supportive
board
member
for
keeping
us
on
track
and,
of
course,
physically.
This
couldn't
have
happened
without
bps
facilities,
Khadija
Eli
Carlton.
All
of
your
support
really
allowed
us
to
be
where
we
are
right
now:
Eli
and
Khadija.
Thank
you
and
all
of
the
folks
at
facilities,
Rand
or
C,
for
listening
to
our
students
when
they
presented
at
school
committee
and
connecting
us
with
Mayor,
Walsh
and,
of
course,
superintendent
Chang
for
always
being
a
supporter
of
dual
language,
education
and
innovation,
friends
of
the
Ananda's
Board.
Your
grant.
B
B
They
were
one
of
the
first
folks
to
give
us
a
grant
and
believe
in
us
when
we
hadn't
even
started
any
of
our
design
work
and
to
all
of
our
amazing
students
who
are
enjoying
the
playground.
Ustedes
son,
nuestros,
futuro,
estamos,
Tan,
orgullosos,
ustedes,
ela,
Rainey,
Hussain,
gracias,
por,
venir,
yes,
Nakano,
so
tro
SOI.
I.
G
G
G
Your
voice
and
your
agency
made
this
happen.
The
Hernandez,
as
mr.
Barra
said,
is
a
great
reflection
of
what
is
possible
in
schools
in
Boston.
This
is
a
school
that
affirms
the
racial
culture,
cultural
and
linguistic
identities
of
our
young
people
through
its
learning
in
two
languages
through
its
cultural,
cultural
and
art
programming,
and
through
the
engagement
of
adults,
engagement
of
parents.
G
D
G
H
Thank
You,
superintendent,
Chang
and
I,
don't
even
know
where
to
start
I
want
to
thank
mr.
Mehra's
I
want
to
take
all
your
great
teachers
that
are
here.
I
want
to
thank
all
your
great
parents
sitting
here.
I
want
to
thank
the
friends
at
hand
is
that
are
here
today.
I
want
to
thank
city,
councilor,
teacher,
sabe,
George
and
also
City
Councilman
O'malley
able
to
talk
about
them
in
a
minute.
H
I
want
to
thank
super
the
Police
Commission,
if
Hillary
Evans
with
us
today,
Thank
You,
Commissioner,
Evans,
Jose
and
Lorraine
good
to
see
you
again
and
thank
you
very
much
and
to
all
of
you
young
people
here.
This
is
an
exciting
day.
I
came
to
the
school
two
years
ago
for
opening
day
for
the
first
day
of
school
and
I
had
a
chance
to
sit
down
with
a
lot
of
the
seventh
graders
at
the
time
and
actually
sat
with
the
whole
school.
H
But
the
7th
graders
had
to
talk
to
me
about
the
classroom
and
what
they
wanted
to
do
outside
and
they
were
presented
to
me
and
they
were
saying
all
these
different
things
about.
We
want
to
raise
money
for
a
new
playground
in
the
back
of
the
school.
I
didn't
come
out
to
the
playground
at
that
particular
moment.
A
year
later,
I
came
back
to
the
school.
H
Raiders
are
now
eighth
graders
and
they
took
me
outside
and
we
saw
the
playground
and
they
told
me
that
they
wanted
to
build
a
new
playground.
We
had
we
thought
about
it
and
they
told
me
about
what
they
had
done
and
what
you
guys
had
done,
and
they
told
me
about
the
student-led
movement
here
at
this
great
school
and
they
told
me
about
how
they've
been
raising
money
with
the
parent
groups
and
they
told
me
how
they've
been
doing
so
many
different
things
and
they
were
short
on
their
money
to
get
a
playground.
H
H
Well,
it's
not
the
full
amount,
because
these
kids
have
done
an
incredible
job
of
raising
money
and
building
Organists
an
organization
to
build
a
playground
and
I
was
so
happy
to
be
able
to
say
with
the
help
of
the
C
council,
because
they
vote
on
the
budget
to
come
up
with
the
rest
of
the
money
to
build
this
playground
and
when
I
walked
in
this
playground.
Today.
Last
time,
I
was
at
this
playground.
H
I
was
over
there
right
over
there
and
we
saw
cracks
walls
and
we
saw
old
staff
and
we
saw
all
kinds
of
stuff
that
just
wasn't
appropriate
for
this
school's
playground
and
when
I
walked
in
today
brought
a
big
smile
to
my
face,
because
you
guys
have
done
an
incredible
job
of
making
this
playground
a
reality.
The
8th
graders
at
8th
graders
today.
Congratulations
because
you
get
a
chance.
You
don't
really
play
in
the
playground
over
here.
H
You're
probably
playing
out
here
is
pretty
an
awesome,
green
space
right
here,
so
I'm
sure
there's
a
lot
of
soccer
going
on
here
and
other
stuff
going
on,
but
today
young
people
an
opportunity
to
see
something
special
to
school.
I
can
honestly
say
as
mayor
of
Austin,
one
of
the
best
things
that
have
ever
is
what's
happening
today
at
this
school,
cutting
a
ribbon
on
this
incredible
playground,
so
I
just
want
to
say
to
all
the
teachers
and
parents
students.