Brentwood Leadership Class 2017

Project “Team Inclusive” Benefiting the Brentwood Community

In photo: AJ Bahou, Claudia Barajas, Nate Spencer, Robbie Hayes, Rebecca Collins and Kim Coggin at Granny White Park

Every year the Leadership Brentwood Program identifies eighteen leaders from the civic, educational, government, religious and business communities who will use their leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities for the long-term benefit of the Brentwood community. The program provides an educational format, which allows leaders to enhance their leadership abilities through exposure to an understanding of all aspects of the city of Brentwood. Leaders meet one day for eight consecutive months where they are grouped into three teams of six people to complete a project that will benefit the community of Brentwood.

One of the teams, named “Team Inclusive”, consisted of AJ Bahou, Claudia Barajas, Kim Coggin, Rebecca Collins, Robbie Hayes, and Nate Spencer.  The team clearly understood from the beginning that Williamson County has built a reputation of being welcoming of families and inclusive of diverse people. In the schools, special needs kids are integrated into all aspects of school and the team wanted to take that same culture of inclusion into Brentwood city parks. The team reached out to the Brentwood Parks and Recreation Director, Dave Bunt, to determine if there was a need for more handicap accessible playground equipment in the City’s parks.  It was determined there was space at Granny White Park, which did not have any inclusive equipment installed.  The members of “Team Inclusive” are pleased to know that the functionality of the swing that was recently installed, will provide children with special needs in our community with an opportunity to connect while safely playing and enjoying each other.

The Team has contacted the Brentwood schools an
d other community groups that provide special needs services to families to promote the new swing.  The team hopes the spirit of inclusion that begins in the schools will continue after school to the playgrounds.