Vycom's Donation of Playboard® Helps Engage Learning OK Bring Practical Learning Skills and Experience to Students

SCRANTON, Pa., April 9, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Since August 2016, Engage Learning has offered design and engineering learning opportunities to students and teachers in Central Oklahoma. Projects are designed, fabricated and installed by teams of eight-to-12 students. - For two recent projects, Vycom donated Playboard®, a safe, functional and durable material. Allied Plastics, a plastics distributor and fabricator in Oklahoma, helped with the donation.

"Vycom has been an excellent partner, donating product on two occasions," said Bart Keeton, founder of Engage Learning. "The Playboard is fantastic—it's easy to work with, low-maintenance and durable for the outdoor projects we create."

Playboard is made of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) material designed to work well in playground applications. It's smooth to the touch, easy to clean, scratch resistant, and will not delaminate, chip, rot, swell or splinter. It can be shaped using basic tools and its colors won't bleed or leach.

"Engage Learning helps students identify and hone skills that can be used in a career. They're one of the few programs helping address the shortage of skilled workers," said Sheryl Gipson of Allied Plastics.

The first time Engage Learning requested Playboard was for a team from All Saints Catholic School, in Norman, OK, that wanted to build a bus stop. Vycom donated four, one-inch thick pieces of Playboard for use as side, climbing-wall panels. The material was cut, etched, and engraved using traditional cutting tools and a CNC Router.

"Playboard was the perfect material for this project because it will withstand our climate much better than wood," said Keeton.

Engage Learning also used Playboard for a human-sized hamster wheel. Fifth graders from Cleveland Elementary School designed and built the wheel for "Design + Do," a design and prototyping competition. The school later added students to the team to build a life-size version. For the larger wheel, a box-like structure using Playboard (in the school's colors of Royal Blue and White) was added to keep hands safe from moving parts.

"We found Playboard to be a superior product to plywood. It looks fantastic, affords all kinds of creative possibilities, and I know it will last forever," said Keeton. "The edges are far easier to smooth with a sander or router, whereas on wood you'll see splinters over time. It was also a huge benefit that there's no need to paint and no maintenance down the road."

"Communities are blessed to have Bart's involvement and it's really gratifying to see Vycom, a major manufacturer, echoing his passion and mine to develop skills and career awareness in young students," said Gipson. Learn more about Vycom at http://www.vycomplastics.com and more about Engage Learning OK at http://engagelearning.org.

About Vycom:
Vycom, a division of The AZEK Company, manufactures market-leading brands of highly innovative plastic sheet products designed to replace wood, metal, and other traditional materials in a variety of applications. The company's extensive inventory and product offerings provide its customers with the convenience of single-source purchasing and the ability to maximize efficiency. Vycom's manufacturing agility places it in a prime position to be the essential partner in creating solutions that optimize quality and performance, and in providing a more sustainable future. For more information, visit https://www.vycomplastics.com/.

SOURCE Vycom