Belleaire Elementary, KaBOOM!, and CarMax teamed up in the Month of the Military Child to honor military children through providing the school with Rigamajigs, a toy that combines science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills.

Earlier this year, Belleaire’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) president, Bethany Rowlee, set out on the hunt for a new playground for the school. However, she stumbled upon the Rigamajig. The Rigamajig consists of wooden planks, wheels, pulleys, nuts, bolts, and rope.

“[While I was] submitting other grants to get our Belleaire kids a new playground, KaBOOM! contacted me in January to let me know that they felt Belleaire would be a good match for a Creative Play grant they were offering,” Rowlee said. “What stuck out to them in the first part of our application is that we serve a large percentage (greater than 20%) of children of active duty military and veteran parents, as well as the fact that we serve a high percentage of low-income families.”

Principal Nikki Schubauer said once they saw the price tag of the Rigamajigs, $15,000, she knew they’d have to be recipients of a grant, otherwise they would be out of reach. KaBOOM!, in partnership with CarMax, presents six grants a year to schools that meet the requirements of their application process. Schubauer said she knew they wanted to focus on military communities and felt confident. They received the call that said they were awarded a grant, the first given.

“We were very excited and honored to have received such a competitive grant,” Rowlee said. “We were completely blown away.”

The next step was a reveal to the students. Rowlee said KaBOOM! has a process for their reveal so Belleaire invited the local CarMax team, Superintendent Jeff Rippe, Lt. Col. Sean Park, and mostly children of active duty military and veteran parents.

“We invited the kids to the library for the surprise event, told them what was happening, thanked our amazing CarMax sponsors and VIP guests and then let the kids play with their new Rigamajig,” Rowlee said. “They dove right in with plenty of ideas and imagination.”

Schubauer said when the kids saw the Rigamajig they didn’t even hesitate. She said they built helicopters, cranes, pizza cutters, and even a big fidget spinner. Associate Director of Account Management at KaBOOM!, Erica Liberman, said every time she interacts with the kids with the Rigamajig she is so impressed with the fact that the kids immediately get it in a way that adults do not. Rowlee, Schubauer, and Liberman said they see ways that this kind of play benefits the students.

“Play is a great equalizer. It is how kids act out stressors that are in their lives,” Liberman said. “They get a chance to process everything that is going on, it is their outlet. We know that kids from military families do experience very unique stressors like having a parent deployed, moving around, and perhaps having a parent come back with an injury whether visible or not.”

Military child Makai Stearns said he can attest to the struggles. The fifth grade Belleaire student moved around from England, Missouri, Portugal, Georgia, and now Nebraska.

“Being a military kid has had its moments where it has been hard, especially the moving part. I have had to move so this is my third school and I might be going to my fourth school soon,” he said.

Stearns said although it is nice to meet new people, he understands the struggles of a military child. He said his advice to fellow military children is to just try not to worry about where you are moving and to just roll with it, try to make a bunch of friends and try to make the best of it.  Stearns said he hopes the Rigamajigs will give kids an example of something fun to do instead of worrying about if they are going to move. Liberman said the Rigamajigs were designed just for that.

“Free creative play can be such an amazing opportunity for bringing communities together and helping kids when they move to a new place. It’s for the social engagement, but also the social and emotional experience,” Schubauer said.