Wearing his conductor hat, nine-year-old Andrew Estrella knelt on the upper deck of his new train car playhouse and peered into a telescope. Beside him, his three-year-old brother, Tyler, placed one hand on the telescope and looked through the lens with his brother. From the ground, their parents kept an eye on the two youngsters while Bryant community members and high school administrators stopped to chat with the two adults.
“This is beyond what I expected,” Jeremy Estrella, the boys’ father, said looking at the red train car playhouse before him. Equipped with black painted wheels, a sliding yellow door, and black guardrails, the playhouse incorporated many of Andrew’s interests — including trains, space, and superheroes.
Inside the playhouse, a cozy Spider-Man rug accented the roomy abode along with superhero toys, a Spider-Man mask, and two beach chairs for the brothers to relax in. Looking up, the black ceiling depicted constellations painted in white.
“It’s very impressive, and it’s cool to see the collaboration and creativity that went into these playhouses,” said Amanda Estrella, the boys’ mother.
Continuing their exploration of the new play space, the two boys climbed down the upper deck’s ladder and walked the exterior with Andrew leading the way. On the right side of the playhouse hung a Captain America shield, which the nine-year-old removed from its hook and showed off to his family, Bryant students, and the teens from Silver Lake Regional High School who had built the playhouse.
His smile was radiant.
Giving back the Bryant way
Andrew was one of three children to receive a custom-built playhouse through the Bryant Management Association’s annual Project Playhouse initiative. Celebrating its ninth year on April 29, Project Playhouse began in 2015 as a service-learning project for a Management 200 course where undergraduates were tasked with brainstorming ways to help local children with life-threatening illnesses. They ended up partnering with wish-granting organizations like the Tomorrow Fund and A Wish Come True to help locate children and collaborated with nearby vocational and technical high schools who built the playhouses based on the kids’ interests. The project eventually evolved into a volunteer-based organization where students worked together to unite the community under one common goal: surprising kids with their dream playhouses.
“Over the last nine years, we've been privileged to work with the most exceptional, dedicated, and extremely talented career and technical students, as well as the most kind and generous and supportive sponsors,” Project Playhouse Coordinator Cassandra Hierl ’25 told high schoolers and sponsors at the 2025 reveal. “It is because of all of you that this project has been able to give more than 30 new playhouses, and today, we are giving away three more.”
Bryant’s Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Inge-Lise Ameer, Ed.D., noted that one of the most exciting aspects about Project Playhouse is that businesses, schools, faculty, staff, and Bryant students come together to support families as they go through difficult times.
“We believe at Bryant that leadership is important, and that a huge component of leadership is community service; it makes your life richer and happier,” said Ameer.
Drawing upon personal experience, Ameer noted how extraordinary acts of kindness, support, and meaningful interactions from friends and those around her helped her family during a difficult, health-sensitive time.
“Thank you for bringing us hope for the future,” Ameer said. “It is an extraordinary thing that you've done and will bring hours of joy to someone's life for a very long time; it means a great deal.”
Fueling the imagination
In her turtle playhouse, which was inspired by her favorite movie, Finding Nemo, seven-year-old Eve McCarthy sat on her Disney Princess rug surrounded by toys, a coloring book to her right, as well as a plush fish pillow and a fluffy white reading pillow to her left. High schoolers from Blue Hills Regional Technical School constructed the playhouse and decorated the interior walls with Marlin, Dory, Nemo, and other underwater creatures. Her playhouse came with one additional surprise — a matching doghouse for her dog, Abby.
Next door to Eve’s play space sat the Minnie Mouse playhouse for three-year-old Hope Fernandes, which was built by Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School. Hope and her twin sister, Faith, love all things Disney and princesses. Decked out in pink, the playhouse had Minnie Mouse ears on the door and a mouse head-shaped window in the back. Unable to be there for the reveal, Hope will receive her playhouse at a later date.
Taking a photo with his students outside the finished playhouse, Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School Plumbing Instructor Kevin Rodrigues shared that he couldn’t be prouder of his students for what they accomplished.
“We really let students take the wheel with the concept and design,” said Rodrigues, noting that — in addition to the construction — high school faculty guided students on incorporating electricity and plumbing capabilities for the playhouse.
He shared that an extension cord could be connected from the playhouse to a house plug-in and there was an interior sink and a garden hose hookup that would allow Eve to water the flowers in her playhouse’s window boxes. He added that high schoolers also made sure to consider doorway and playhouse size to accommodate for the sisters as they aged.
“They’ll be able to use this for years to come,” Rodrigues said.
