Stephen and Ayesha Curry to Build New Playspace in Oakland

During a virtual, school-wide assembly, NBA superstar and co-founder of Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation Stephen Curry announced to the kids of Franklin Elementary that they will be getting a massive new playspace at their school in early 2021.

In partnership with KABOOM!, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, The CarMax Foundation and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), are ensuring kids will have access to a great place to play with a new playground, multi-sport court and garden. Kids from Franklin will be a key part of the design process for the sprawling new playspace, when they are asked to imagine and draw their dream playgrounds.

Playspaces Are More Essential Than Ever

Kids need play in order to thrive — especially during stressful times. Having access to quality places to play is vital to kids’ emotional, social and physical health. Too many kids in America, however, don’t have a safe place to play, and are denied the essential benefits of play. Eat. Learn. Play. Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s foundation, describe this inequity completely.

 There is a powerful, positive connection with a child’s success and the recommended daily amount of physical activity. This is why we have made Play one of the core pillars for our foundation.

For children living in poverty, play is often too hard to come by as their families face many obstacles, ranging from a lack of safe places to play to under-resourced schools that cut recess and physical education. This is why we are so very excited to celebrate the dream playspace that will be coming to Franklin Elementary next year and we can get back to playing once again!  Stephen and Ayesha Curry, co-founders of Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation

It Takes an Entire Community

The playspace at Franklin Elementary School will be high-quality and its design will center around the desires of the community. Projects like these show what is possible when partners and communities come together to address the needs of kids, especially in times of crisis.

This has been a challenging year for our students and teachers, but they have been resilient as they navigate a new way of learning and teaching virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are looking forward to coming together again, and welcoming them back with a new playground, multi-sport court and garden for all to enjoy.
—Lusa Lai, Principal of Franklin Elementary School

A project like this takes a strong partnership. KABOOM!, Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, The CarMax Foundation and OUSD are working together to make sure this playspace lives up to the dreams of Franklin Elementary’s kids. Kids that, like many kids living in communities of color in America, have been hit hardest by the pandemic and its secondary effects.

We know disasters and crises often exacerbate the inequities that communities are already experiencing, and in many communities, kids won’t have a playground to go back to once the COVID-19 crisis is over. We must stop the playspace inequities from becoming even deeper after we get through this pandemic, giving every kid the chance to play and just enjoy being a kid.
—Lysa Ratliff, Acting CEO of KABOOM!