Former Eugene Field student repurposes unused space on school playground

A sophomore of Poplar Bluff High School found a meaningful way to give back to his former elementary school, perhaps inadvertently applying the values practiced there.

Noah Adams, 15, recently painted a sensory path on an otherwise unutilized concrete slab adjacent to the playground at Eugene Field as a service project in order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout under Boy Scouts of America.

“Noah’s plan truly made something out of nothing,” stated Kristen Spain, Eugene Field principal. “It is a win-win because our students benefit from his service project and it helped him complete a huge goal [toward] Eagle Scout.”

‘Think win win’ is one of the habits taught as part of the Leader In Me initiative under which Eugene Field has achieved lighthouse status. A graduate of the program, Noah commented how he basically “grew up here,” referring to the elementary school in which his mother Michelle Adams also serves as a first grade teacher.

“One day I was walking through there and thought, ‘You know, there’s been nothing beyond concrete in that spot ever since I was in grade school,” Noah reflected. “I was in second grade when they put up the playground. So I decided, ‘Well, it wouldn’t hurt.’”

Over the course of multiple weekends in October, Noah prepped the site, then sketched a series of lines and shapes to form an obstacle course that is designed to lead students through various challenges such as the tightrope walk or bunny hop. He explained how the concept is similar to a hopscotch outline one might draw with chalk on a sidewalk, only he used long-lasting paint with leftover supplies he acquired from a home project.

“The sensory path is for the students to use to help with movements and to just get the wiggles out,” Michelle noted. “It has also been a big hit with the students. He gets off the bus here at Eugene Field in the afternoons and that first week he was a local celebrity.”

Before meeting with the Eagle Board of Review, which Noah anticipates happening prior to the holiday season, he was required to obtain approval for the proposal from both his scout leader and the project beneficiary. He has been a member of Scouts since he was in the first grade.

Spain commented how she was impressed by the attention to detail on the rendering that now hangs in her office. “Before this the concrete pad really wasn’t used at all… We are thrilled to be recipients of his act of service,” the principal concluded.

###

Cutline: Student Chyanne Mathews poses in front of the sensory path on a repurposed concrete slab in the playground space at Eugene Field Elementary.