The smile on Fairplay Middle School eighth-grader Maximiliano “Max” Pacheco Ruiz's face said it
all.
What started a few months ago with a teacher taking her students to adjacent Fairplay Park to swing is now a special paved path linking the school and park for years to come.
The new path, called "Max Crossing," was dedicated with a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 28. Max, his father Eustasio Pacheco, family members, teachers, classmates, school and county officials were all on hand.
Max looked on from the front row, seated in his wheelchair next to his dad, both smiling with appreciation.
"I feel very happy," Max said while eating cake with his classmates after the ceremony.
Fairplay Middle School teacher Ashleigh Daniel said they had been walking through a gas station parking lot and up a hill to get Max in his wheelchair to the playground. She remembers vividly getting him into a swing at the park for the first time.
"He was having so much fun, and of course, we're crying," said Daniel, a 21-year veteran Douglas
County educator.
Daniel mentioned the obstacles in getting Max to the park to FMS physical education teacher Adrienne Griffin, who has had a special place in her heart for accessibility in physical education since working with a wheelchair-bound young man with cerebral palsy in college. Griffin had already created an adapted PE class at Fairplay.
When Griffin found out about the obstacles, she reached out to her husband, Chad Griffin, who serves as director of the Douglas County Parks and Recreation Department.
Chad stepped in and helped get the path built with help from his maintenance supervisor, the county Department of Transportation and the school.
"I feel blessed to be able to work alongside my husband and accomplish such an important project for our community," Adrienne said. "We are both surrounded by great teams of support; none of this would have been possible without every hand that was ordained to take part in this project."
She added: "Many have thanked us over and over for going 'above and beyond,' but Chad and I both feel this was just a simple way of answering part of the calling that has been placed on our lives. We are honored to be part of such a special addition that links the school to the park. I will always remember Max as our motivation to pursue whatever mission we come across on our path."
