Climbing Wall for Special Needs

I work as a Physical Education teacher at a low income/high poverty public school. Our school is unique in the fact that all of our students, ranging in age from 5-21, all have special needs. Our students fight against socioeconomic disparities, hunger, and the stigma of having a mental disability every day and are still a joy to be around and have a very good outlook on life. 

We try to provide our students with a school day that as closely as possible resembles a normal school day like the other schools in our district. Because our district is so large funding for certain items can be pretty limited, which can make it difficult to cater to the diverse needs that we come across on a daily basis. Our school has a variety of tracks for our students, including autistic support, verbal basics, multiple disabilities, and life skills. 

I believe that physical activity, especially for our students, is key to fully enjoying life. Many of our students are quite sedentary and can be very stubborn. Everyday I try to come up with new activities and games for our students to take part in. I feel that if our students can find one physical activity that they enjoy doing then they will be able to use that for the rest of their lives.

The majority of our students have strength and balance issues which can make some of the mainstream games and sports more difficult and intimidating for them.  I believe one way to increase strength, balance, and confidence in these students would be to get a traverse wall with adapted foot and hand holds. This will give our students an opportunity to work on these aspects of health in a fun and challenging way that will allow them to have a high success rate.

The quote that I received in order to provide this for our students far exceeds our budget:
 
10x20 STANDARD WALL™ PACKAGE: .................................................................................................................. $4,007
Everlast Climbing Grant Award...................................................................................................... ($120)

      Shipping & Handling....................................................................................................................... $703

      Wall Subtotal:  ............................................................................................................................. $4,590                                                                                                               

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS

      Installation................................................................................................................................... $2,142

      *If attaching to flat cinderblock, concrete or brick surface
      (2) Adaptive Hand Hold Sets ($798 per set).................................................................................... $1,596

      Fire Retardant Plywood................................................................................................................... $465

      Additional Cost for Fire Retardant Foam......................................................................................... $945

 Grand Total............................................................... $9,738
Prices do not include tax

I would love to be able to offer this opportunity to our students as early as next year. Any donations would be incredibly appreciated and I can assure you that our students will get a ton of enjoyment out of having this in their Physical Education program. I will be sure to post pictures and videos of our students enjoying their new wall.   If we cannot fully fund this project for next year I will continue fund raising efforts until we are able. Thank you for you time, interest, and help.