From Crayon Drawings to Blueprint Designs: Fantasy Playground to Become Safe, Accessible Playground Reality for San Francisco Community

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dozens of children from the neighborhoods surrounding Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center (Tel-Hi), located at 660 Lombard St., let their imaginations soar during the Tues., Nov. 15, 2011, Safe, Accessible Playground Design Day event. With crayons and markers in hand, each child drew the playground of his or her dreams. Their fantasy playground will become a reality on Tues., Feb. 7, 2012, when hundreds of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and community volunteers convene at Tel-Hi to build a playground in just one day.

Since 2000, the Academy has sponsored a one-day volunteer build to kick-off its Annual Meeting, leaving behind a legacy of safe and accessible playgrounds to the Annual Meeting's host city so that children with and without disabilities can safely play together. In 2012, AAOS will build a Safe, Accessible Playground in the northeast San Francisco community.

Community children and adults participated in a mid-afternoon event packed with interactive exercises to share concepts of their ideal play space. In partnership with Tel-Hi and KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to saving play for America's children, the groups' concepts then get incorporated into the final design plans to build the playground.

Daniel J. Solomon, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and a spokesperson for the AAOS, representatives from Tel-Hi, and KaBOOM! were on hand to answer build-related questions and share information about playground safety and the importance of safe exercise and play in building strong bones for life.

Orthopaedic surgeons are the physicians who treat many people with physical disabilities. They see first-hand the fractures, dislocations and other results of playground injuries and falls. The Safe, Accessible Playground Build is an opportunity for orthopaedic surgeons to give back to the Academy's Annual Meeting's host city. This playground will offer children exercise opportunities for balance, flexibility, and strength to build strong bones.

For more information about the Safe, Accessible Playground, visit www.aaos.org/playground.

ABOUT:

AAOS
An orthopaedic surgeon is a medical doctor with extensive training in the diagnosis and non-surgical as well as surgical treatment of the musculoskeletal system, including bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves.

With more than 36,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (www.aaos.org) is the premier not-for-profit organization that provides education programs for orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals, champions the interests of patients and advances the highest quality musculoskeletal health. Orthopaedic surgeons and the Academy are the authoritative sources of information for patients and the general public on musculoskeletal conditions, treatments and related issues. An advocate for improved patient care, the Academy is participating in the Bone and Joint Initiative (www.usbjd.org) – the global initiative in the years 2002-2011 – to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health, stimulate research and improve people's quality of life.

Tel-Hi

Founded in 1890, Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center (Tel-Hi) builds community strength for the neighborhoods of northeast San Francisco in three ways: provides services for 600 people each day to increase their well-being; brings the neighborhood together through celebrations and civic pursuits; and increases its impact through long-term partnerships and collaborations.

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

SOURCE American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons