11-year-old Rosili Olson's park design
Kids often like to dream up ideas for the perfect house, the perfect bedroom, the perfect school and more. Children's imaginations can conjure up all kinds of things grownups might not think of, even if they're not always realistic.
But in the case of an 11-year-old who dreamed up an ideal park design for her siblings, her idea was not only "perfect," but realistic enough for the city to use her plan to renovate a local playground.
Rosili Olson, now 12, drew up her idea for a playground in 2023 after she realized that the playground near her house in Clearfield, Utah, was geared toward kids age 5 to 12. That was fine for her and one of her younger siblings, but it didn't have any fun and safe elements for her 3-year-old sister. Seeing the need for an all-age playground, Rosili drew a picture of her vision, took it to city hall and asked for a meeting with the head of the parks department.
Here's what she showed city officials:
Rosili Olson's idea for an all-ages playgroundPhoto courtesy of Clearfield City/Facebook
"After seeing her initiative and detail, we knew we had to make her dream happen," the city shared on Instagram.
To their credit, the city didn't just run with the idea of making a park that included safe fun for all ages—they actually included Rosili in the whole process.
"We used her drawings as the basis for Bicentennial’s playground design mock-ups," the city shared. "She then reviewed multiple versions until we had checked all her boxes and got the colors right." Rosili chose the climbing elements, the equipment for the under-5-year-old area and the colors.
Rosili Olson with her family and city officials looking at a mock-up of playground equipment. Photo courtesy of Clearfield City/Facebook
“Rosili’s a very strong-willed and very wonderful person,” Annie Olson, Rosili's mom, told local news outlet Standard-Examiner. “When she brought it up, I thought, ‘This is a big deal.’ We’ve lived in Clearfield her entire life — we moved in when she was 6 months — so we’re really invested in Clearfield City itself. All I did was call and say, ‘Hey, do me a favor. Would you let my daughter come in?’ They were so gracious and so kind, a lot more than I ever could’ve imagined, for sure.”
Eric Howes, head of parks and recreation for Clearfield City, told the outlet that the city had been planning to renovate Bicentennial Park but they didn't have a solid plan for it yet when Rosili brought them her idea.
“It was budgeted but we didn’t have any specifics," he said. "When Rosili came to the city building and asked to talk to somebody about a playground, we sat down with her. After seeing all the effort she put into all of those drawings knowing we’d already ordered the playground for the park right by her house, the next best thing was to say, ‘We’ve got a playground coming in next year. Let’s use what you’ve done and build something there.’ It was just simply asking her, ‘Do you want to be involved?’ She said ‘yes’ and her mom was committed to bringing her every time. We met three or four times, reviewed different plans at different stages until we got here.”
About a year later, the playground was unveiled.
The playground at Bicentennial Park in Clearfield, Utah. Photo courtesy of Clearfield City/Facebook
Howes was impressed with Rosili's desire to improve her community and her willingness to work with the city to make it happen.
“I don’t see this from adults very often, to be very honest” he said. “I was just so impressed with Rosili. She saw something she didn’t like and she decided, ‘I want to do something about it.’ Not just draw her drawings and make her feel better, she made sure her mom brought her to City Hall. … She just put in so much effort, I felt like it ought to be rewarded.”
Rosili is demonstrating what happens when a citizen, no matter what age, cares enough to notice a need and take the initiative to do something about it. Look out, Leslie Knope. This kiddo already has more civic sense than most grown-ups.
As the city shared on Instagram, "We can learn a lot from Rosili’s example about how residents and the city can work together to create positive change." Indeed, we can. Thanks, Rosili and Clearfield City, for the inspiration.
Watch the park project unfold:
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