East Valley’s All About Play aids special needs families with school vouchers

MESA, Ariz. — An East Valley company has found a niche with school voucher families.

Jordan Lynde and Mike Gaddis, who run All About Play in Mesa, became an Empowerment Scholarship Account vendor two years ago, and they said at least 80 percent of their ESA business comes from families with special needs children.

RELATED: Empowerment Scholarships provide families with special needs kids an opportunity to learn academics, life skills, and excel at the Autism Academy

“One day, Mike comes to me. He’s like, you know, what would you think about approaching ESA about background playgrounds?” Lynde said. “And for me, it was like a light went off because I’ve known forever the power of play when it comes to learning.”

Lynde and Gaddis showed 12News their East Valley showroom, where families can see — and play — on equipment and trampolines that can be custom-built in their backyards.

The two started the business during COVID, when social distancing was in place. 

They use Google Earth to look at a customer’s yard, and then a computer program designs a play area. 

“God opens doors for you sometimes, and it’s like all the doors were open for us to create this,” Lynde said. 

The playgrounds and trampolines cost several thousand dollars each, and Lynde said he understands that a private background playground could raise eyebrows from critics of the ESA program.

12News for months has been investigating empowerment scholarships, which will cost taxpayers $1 billion this year for about 90,000 kids attending private or home schools.

The I-Team has found numerous questionable purchases in the taxpayer-funded education program, like paying for theme parks and high-end appliances that families get to keep.

“I can see their point of thinking that way,” Lynde said. “But knowing what I know about the link between play and learning and education and what it does for a child, emotionally, cognitively, physically, socially, you know, I 100% believe that this is the right fit for those families, especially homeschool families.”

The ESA program has also benefited the company’s sales, with Lynde noting: “It’s been a very nice part of our business.”

State records, obtained by 12News, show ESA families spent $66,00 with the company during the 2024 school year.

Last year, just more than $169,000 in ESA dollars went to All About Play.

Shannon Mitchell, the executive director of the Autism Academy for Education & Development, told 12News that it’s money well spent.

“There are so many different reasons why that would be helpful for a student that has special needs and has physical limitations,” Mitchell said. “You think, oh, they can just go to a park. No, that may not be safe for them. The perimeters of parks are huge. A lot of our students are flight risks. There’s just dangers that can happen.”

Lynn added that voucher funding has been a blessing to many ESA families.

“Two-thirds of the families that we work with probably wouldn’t be able to get a playground in their backyard without the help of ESA,” he said. “It’s been used, mostly, in a very good way.”

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