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How a Queens school transformed a local playground—and its students’ lives
Amy Zimmer, Chalkbeat
Aug 12, 2026, at 5:57 am EDT
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How do you make high school feel less like, well, school? And how do you get kids to show up, especially those at greatest risk of dropping out?
A class devoted to community service projects at Voyages Prep in Elmhurst, Queens, might offer some clues.
The school, which serves older students who transferred in after falling behind at other schools, partners on the elective course created with Hire Cause, a career education company that focuses on building skills through hands-on projects aimed at improving communities. Two years ago, the students decided they’d focus on renovating Playground Ninety, a run-down basketball court in Jackson Heights where some of them played after school.
The students got to work. They collaborated with artists to design the space. They learned how to fundraise—organizing bake sales, a basketball tournament, and a carnival—and netted about $2,100.
Then they decided to shoot for something bigger, submitting a video to the “Every Court Has a Story” contest, a worldwide initiative led by Project Backboard, a nonprofit that funds renovations of public basketball courts. They won $50,000, beating out scores of submissions from around the globe and marking the first time a student-led entry won the contest.
“Too often, many students can’t see how the classroom connects to the broader community,” said David Dvorkin, CEO of Hire Cause, which worked with 28 public schools and 1,450 students across the city this past school year. “That’s part of the gap that we’re collectively working to close here.”
Playground Ninety’s renovation wrapped up last month with a repaired basketball court and a mural painted on the ground with flowers representing the diversity of Jackson Heights and wavy lines symbolizing New York City’s rivers. The kids at P.S. 90 have been especially delighted: The elementary school exclusively uses the space during the school day.
With its intensive focus on job skills, Voyages’ Hire Cause class fits into the city’s larger effort embracing career readiness. Nearly 180 high schools across the five boroughs are part of the Education Department’s FutureReadyNYC program, providing students with hands-on classes and career training. About 105 career and technical education programs offer certifications for a range of post-graduation careers. But the Voyages class differs in its emphasis on social impact and its student-led approach. Students pick a cause they care about and have to raise money to see their project through.
It gives them something bigger to be part of, educators involved in the project said. And they get to see the fruits of their effort.
It gives them a reason to show up, students said.
By the time Kamrin Jones took the class, the project had already begun. Initially, it was just an assignment to him. But when he saw the excitement of the elementary school kids, his perspective shifted: “It started as an obligation but then became a passion.”
It felt dramatically different from his previous school, where he would travel about 1.5 hours to just “sit around,” the 19-year-old said.
“Not only do I have a reason to be here, but it’s like proof that I can do more with myself than I thought I could,” he said. “Like it’s proof that I’m more than just sitting in class and just waiting, twiddling my fingers. It’s proof that when I do actually put myself to the task, I can meet expectations.”
Jones believes his path might have been different had he not landed at Voyages and dove into the playground project. After graduating from Voyages in June, Jones is spending this summer learning about economics and marketing through investment banking firm Centerview (that he is getting paid for). He is planning to go to a trade school in the fall.
A lesson in joy, leadership, and local change
As a transfer school, where students come and go, graduating at different times as they accumulate enough credits, Voyages had about 60 students in all working on the project at some point, with about 35 of those students more intensely involved. Ten, including Jones, devoted after-school hours ensuring Playground Ninety got done.
Jones became the project manager, making sure everyone stayed on track. He would spend his lunchtime organizing things and sharing reminders to his peers in morning announcements he made over the loudspeaker.
“It’s easy for us students to get distracted,” Jones said. “I made sure we stayed on task.”
Some students who were struggling with attendance “turned a corner” after getting involved in the course, said Anthony Drzal, one of the co-teachers of the course. A student who was chronically late knew that missing the second-period class would have significant consequences, not just for her.
“It wasn’t like another class where maybe she just missed the worksheet, and she would deal with it later,” Drzal said. “If she had a responsibility, she had to take care of it.”
He believes that led to a different type of engagement than in more traditional classrooms.
The sense of community and connection created by the class is something the school overall works hard to achieve. It has a high-needs population—nearly 90% are from low-income households, nearly 30% have disabilities, and more than 70% are overage and undercredited. It also struggles with outcomes: Just 17% graduated from high school and enrolled in a post-secondary program within six months.
Even though the course is rooted in social change and social justice, that was never explicitly part of the conversation, said Traci Molloy, one of two artists who worked on the playground project alongside the course’s co-teachers.
The goal was to make something beautiful.
“In doing that, you’re transforming the park; you’re transforming a neighborhood,” she said. “The way it was framed was always, ‘We have to have fun.” We have to have joy, and then that joy becomes a change.”
The Voyages students will move on this school year to a new project of their choice, but those like Jones, who are graduating, are taking many skills they learned from the project, Molloy said.
As she told Jones, “This isn’t the last thing you’ve done. This is the first best thing you’ve done.”
Correction: Aug. 11, 2026: This article initially stated that Hire Cause is a nonprofit. It is a for-profit company that partners with many nonprofits.
Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026/08/11/queens-transfer-school-students-gain-job-skills-playground-ninety/