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Thanks to everyone who helped make the Summit Saturday Service Project a success! For coverage of the event, click here.

Join nationally recognized LSU Biological Engineering Professor Marybeth Lima on a post-Summit service project: building a playground for Baton Rouge area children. Special building skills are not required!

For her innovative service-learning work, Lima received the 2007 Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning and the 2005 Ernest A. Lynton Award, the nation's two top service-learning faculty awards. She was a keynote speaker for the 2008 Gulf-South Summit.

The objective up the LSU Community Playground Project is to provide safe, fun, and accessible playgrounds for every child in Baton Rouge and surrounding area public school systems. The program involves pairing elementary school and college students together to design "dream playgrounds" created by the elementary school students. College students take these dream playground concepts, as well as input from teachers, parents, and community members, to design the school's playground. After fundraising and grant writing is complete, the design (checked by a certifed safety playground inspector) is built at the school by volunteers to promote learning and community spirit, and to minimize construction costs.

Sign up for the Playground Build when you register for the 2009 Gulf-South Summit.

Water, lunch, and transportation to the project site and back to the hotel will be provided. Dress comfortably (hat and closed shoes recommended). Baton Rouge weather in late March is typically pleasant; however, it can also be unpredictable. Please check weather reports prior to leaving for the Summit so that you'll know how to dress appropriately.

Departure flights after 3 p.m. on Saturday are recommended for those who want to participate in the entire playground build. A morning shift will be set up for those who are unable to book a mid-afternoon flight but want to be part of the Summit Saturday Service Project.

Limited, special edition, signed giclees are available for $500 to raise funds for the Summit Service Project, a new pre-K and Kindergarten playground at University Terrace Elementary School. Click here to learn how you can order your own "Sweet Olive" giclee and help support the LSU Community Payground Project.

For more information, contact Louisiana State University Center for Community Engagement, Learning, and Leadership at 225-578-3704 or summit09@lsu.edu.