Seven years after Kaboom, Genesis School plans community fair, makeover in 'Project Prepare'

This was the scene in June 2014 when neighborhood partners joined with Genesis School in the summer of 2014 to build a playground provided by Kaboom! This summer, Aug. 7, the school is holding a community fair to prepare the school, the community — and the playground — for the new school year.

Remember the crowds of volunteers? The community rally?

It’s been seven years since Genesis School and its supporters and neighbors came together to build the playground provided by the non-profit program, Kaboom!

Project Prepare

August 7, 2021

8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Genesis School, 3800 E. 44th St.

Now, the popular playground is in need of a makeover, and this time around the school is planning a community fair and rally Aug. 7 to get everyone primed and ready for the coming school year.

“We’re calling it Project Prepare,” said Kevin Foster, the executive director of the charter school at 44th Street and Cleveland Avenue. The name invokes the popular annual school cleanup event, Project Shine, in the Independence School District.

An effort to help the school and its playground “shine” will be part of the day’s plans, refreshing the grounds. But the “prepare” part of the event means to return the goodwill to the schools neighbors and families.

Health care services and screenings will be available, opportunities for medical physicals for students, plus books and school supplies, food and snacks and other resources and information.

Partners for the day include Swope Health, My Brothers Keeper, Brothers Liberating our Communities, Urban Rangers and the Alpha Psi Fraternity.

The playground and the way the school’s neighbors use it and tend to it has been gratifying and stands as the central symbol for Project Prepare, Foster said.

Sometimes, he said, “I’m driving home and I see a grandparent with their kids, knowing they have a safe place they can take their kids,” he said. “The thing I’ve appreciated is it is a community asset.”

The Kaboom! playground remains a popular community site at Genesis School. Google Maps photo taken March 2019