Students at Access Schools are frolicking on a brand-new playground thanks to hundreds of hard-working volunteers who built the structure in just one day! At Access, playgrounds are used as outdoor therapeutic spaces for the school’s students who have physical and mental disabilities.

The new playground was built with support from Let’s Play—a community partnership led by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group—and Kaboom!, a national nonprofit that brings playgrounds to underserved children.

In November, hundreds of volunteers visited Little Rock School District elementary schools for the annual ViPs Jane Mendel Reading Day. Extra special readers included police men and women, firefighters, therapy dogs, pastors, TV reporters and personalities, and others!

An art teacher at Little Rock School District’s Western Hills Elementary was recently awarded a $10,000 grant to improve technology at the school. The teacher, Sarah Burns, detailed how she would incorporate the use of technology in art instruction and demonstrate that effort during the Hour of Code program the week of Dec. 7. Hour of Code is an international initiative that provides students the opportunity to learn about computer coding through one-hour long tutorials.

In November, kindergartners throughout the North Little Rock School District received personalized “I Like Me” books from the North Little Rock Rotary Club. Plus, North Little Rock police officers, North Little Rock High School students, Pulaski Tech nursing students, Rotary Club members and North Little Rock administrators visited classrooms to read to the kindergarten classes.

North Little Rock Middle School students kicked off the season of giving with a hugely successful canned food drive—they collected 12,000 cans for the Amboy Food Pantry. Way to go, guys!

This past November, Junior Achievement of Arkansas celebrated its first JA Entrepreneurship Week in high school classrooms around central Arkansas! From Nov. 16-22, local business owners visited with students at schools, including Maumelle High and Benton High. The entrepreneurs shared what inspired them to launch their ventures, and discussed the challenges and benefits of owning a business.

Fire it up! In the fall, The Anthony School welcomed a brand-new kiln, tons of clay and supplies for its art program.