On Friday, October 25 students had the opportunity to learn about how skyscrapers are built from a team of wonderful volunteers from Lendlease, an international property and infrastructure group with core expertise in shaping cities and creating strong and connected communities.

In each classroom, the volunteers read the story of “Up! Up! Up! Skyscraper” by Anastasia Suen, and gave every child a copy of the book to take home. They showed a time-lapse video of a skyscraper being built, which inspired a wide range of questions from the children, and they even worked together to build their own “skyscrapers” as a team using wooden blocks donated by Lendlease.

It was an exciting morning for all, and we couldn’t be more grateful to Esther Leon-Wales, Grant Gagnier, and the entire team at Lendlease for the enthusiasm they brought to this activity, and for the excitement and curiosity they inspired in the children.

The morning was part of the Lendlease Community Foundation’s “Community Day,” an annual event where Lendlease employees around the world volunteer their time and skills to make a difference in their communities. The tradition began in 1996 and has grown to include more than 350 different community projects each year across Australia, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Parkside was honored to be one of the beneficiaries of this wonderful tradition at Lendlease. It was an inspiring morning for the students, who loved the interaction with construction professionals.