On Nov, 10, 2021, the New Interdisciplinary School (NIS) in Yaphank held a ribbon cutting to celebrate the new playhouse that was delivered to its school last month.
Long Island Home Builders Cares, Inc. worked with a team of professionals to have this custom-made playhouse designed and built for the New Interdisciplinary School. The house was revealed at the Long Island Builders Home, Trade & Remodeling Expo on Oct, 21 at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge.
Keith McNamara and Melissa Lisena from Alside, Steven Pfennig and Mark Steininger from 84 Lumber, and Rabab Zia and Salmah Nashurdeen with H2M Architects+Engineers were part of the committee that worked on this house, alongside NIS staff members, Maureen Rockwood, the director of education, curriculum and instruction, and Susan Cali, director of development and administration. Lois Fricke and the staff at Long Island Home Builders Care, Inc. had this house, as well as those going to other recipients, in part of their efforts and dedication to ensuring no child is left out due to a disability.
“We are very grateful for the creativity, dedication, and hard work that went into building this playhouse for NIS,” Cali said, “This team was able to tailor the house to meet the specific needs of the our student population, and added their creative touches and expertise into making it a complete masterpiece. The Covid-19 pandemic created an unforeseen obstacle in their ability to remain on their original schedule, but they worked together despite the hurdle and were able to see the fruits or their labor come to fruition.”
NIS, a preschool serving nearly 400 students, more than half of them with special needs, is a nonprofit early childhood learning center that relies on the generosity of its donors to enhance all of the programs and services it provides to its students and their families. The schools’s commitment is to provide therapeutic and educational services in a nurturing environment with the highest standard of expertise. When approaches by Lis Fricke of Long Island Home BuildersCare regarding their interest in having a playhouse built for their students, they jumped at the opportunity. The house far surpassed their expectations.
“Our students with and without special needs will be engaged and entertained while fine tuning their fine motor skills with Legos and puzzles, receiving sensory input and building tactile awareness with the textured mini mats, and enhancing their social and language development through imaginative play,” Cali said, “Melissa Lisena, the talented rural artist, tried to match the style of our donated sensory hallway in her artwork and there was even thought put behind the window selection, which creates rainbow when the sun shines though it. No stone was left unturned.”
