[StBernard] WORK BEFORE PLAY

[Westley Annis]

By Karen Turni Bazile
 
Jim Birdsell and his team of water-rescue specialists from California are
credited with saving 800 to 1,000 lives in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina's flooding. 
 
But because leaving town after only 19 days of rescue work left him aching
to do more, Birdsell organized a fundraiser, called Lifeguards for
Louisiana, that ultimately raised $35,000 toward a large playground erected
this week for the nearly 2,000 students at Andrew Jackson Elementary School
in Chalmette.
 
Birdsell's church, the Shoreline Church of San Clemente, Calif., teamed up
with a national group that builds playgrounds for children of disaster, Kids
Around the World. Through the two groups, about 30 people erected a colorful
metal and rubber playground in less than five days at the only public
elementary school in St. Bernard Parish. It measures about 85 feet by 85
feet. 
 
"When I was here (rescuing people from floodwaters), I met some people who
were very, very brave and very committed to their community and to their
families. It had a big impact on my life," said Birdsell, 46, a lifeguard
with the San Diego Fire Rescue Department. 
 
Much-needed addition 
 
Chris Marshall, a staff member with Kids Around the World in Rockford, Ill.,
said the Andrew Jackson playground is a great project. 
 
"The need is apparent because this is one of the most devastated areas," he
said. "All they had was a tennis court with no nets and a grass field." 
 
Andrew Jackson Principal Lee Anne Harlton said the project also benefited
from $50,000 in donations from WHAS-Crusade for Children, a partner of the
WHAS-11 TV station in Louisville, Ky. 
 
Harlton said the playground is a much-needed addition to the school, which
was a high school before Katrina. Its gymnasium's renovations were completed
in November, but there has been no outside play equipment, except for some
tentlike huts erected by the Louisiana Children's Museum, in partnership
with the Children's Museum of Manhattan. 
 
Those tents housed art activities in a program called Play Helps that was
meant to allow children to explore creative outlets more than they could in
a traditional art class, Harlton said. 
 
But two of the three tents left this week. 
 
Rock wall, slides and more 
 
The wheelchair accessible playground is a maze of climbing units with
multiple activity sections, including a rock wall and three slides of
different heights. 
 
Dana Brown, 25, a special-education teacher from San Clemente, said this is
her second trip to help Katrina victims, and given her background she said
she was glad she could build a playground to help young children. 
 
"Being here, I see there's still a lot that has to be done, and working with
kids makes you want to help these kids," Brown said. "They shouldn't have to
see what they've seen." 
 
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