RRISD students hoping to make city parks more accessible

AUSTIN, Texas - A group of seven Round Rock ISD students call themselves the First Lego League Team All Access. The group started their efforts as part of a project to make city parks more accessible for all to use, but it has grown into a passion. They have even partnered with the city to make it happen.

“We are digitizing the trails of many neighborhood parks,” said Naithruv Kashyap, a 7th grader at Canyon Vista Middle School.

All Access has worked on 6 different parks. The most recent being Walnut Creek Park. The students walk the trails with their phones in hand.

“We're doing this in the online city software. When we walk a trail, it will digitize it,” said Kashyap.

Through the city app, these students are able to directly let the city leaders know about possible issues on the trails.

“Let's say a broken bench and someone might not be able to sit down or a root that's covering an important part of the path, that's what we look for. That's what we put into the app that needs to be fixed,” said Kashyap.

Not only are these students reporting these issues, they are getting results.

“I know that there's been like a bench or two that have actually been replaced because they submitted the information to the City of Austin,” said Angela Yung, science teacher at Canyon Vista Middle School.

The students have even interviewed park goers to get their opinions on the trails.

“We interviewed over three dozen people, especially people with disabilities, elderly people, and especially people with strollers as they have the hardest times walking these trails,” said Adam Menezes, a 7th grader at Canyon Vista Middle School.

Since they have started, All Access has worked on almost half a dozen parks in Austin and made them more accessible-friendly to all.

“We are doing a lot for our city. We're saving a lot of money and it's really good because we're doing a lot of volunteering. I think if we all pitch in, we will make our city a better place,” said Romir Jain, a 7th grader at Canyon Vista Middle School.

People are noticing these students’ work, and some even asked to volunteer.

“We started as a small group of seven kids just wanting to improve the community and have a small impact, but now it's scaling from just seven people to thousands, and it's going to have a large impact on our city and community,” said Shaurya Pathania, a 7th grader at Canyon Vista Middle School.