Laura Secord’s new gym fully accessible

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This article was published 26/02/2018 (3006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The doors to Laura Secord’s fully accessible gym are now open to the school’s 500-plus students, as well as the community at large.

The 11,000 square-foot space is a massive upgrade from what staff are now calling the “heritage gym,” a room on the second floor that is one-third of the size which was constructed along with the rest of the building in 1912.

Principal Rhona Churman said an upgrade was long in the works.

“The history of the upgrade is very interesting. It started with a parent who is now in the senior administration department here,” Churman said. “They started saying the gym was too small for the children. That’s been simmering for over 20 years.”

The modern facility is a stark juxtaposition to Laura Secord’s existing building, which includes the gym, fully accessible change rooms and washrooms, a canteen, and a glass skyway that connects the new building to the old. The Manitoba government contributed $5.4 million to the project, which took a year and a half to complete.

“Ourselves and Kelvin are the last two gyms that were approved by the previous government and it was recommended that we move ahead with construction as quickly as possible, so we did do that, and it’s just as well because… Kelvin’s was cancelled,” Churman said.

Construction broke ground in summer of 2016, and Churman said the process was better than anything they could have asked for. Students have been using the gym for class for several weeks.

“One of our Grade 6 students said that when she was talking about the walkway, she said, ‘It’s magical,’” vice-principal Matt Couture said. “Rhona and I were standing in the gym when the students came in and their faces just lit up when they saw this cool, huge, enormous space they could use.”

“Their bodies move so much more. When they kick, they kick and the ball goes a long way, so they’re putting more effort into the kick,” Churman added.

Couture said that the heritage gym will be used as a multipurpose rooms which teachers can book for their students.

“The other day, a teacher incorporated a math activity, so the students were running back and forth and using that as fractions, and making a connection to the Olympics, so it didn’t affect our regular gym programming,” Couture said. “We want our students to have more activity during the day.”

The facility also includes a fully accessible grooming room for students with limited mobility and those working with physical therapists. Laura Secord is one of the first Winnipeg School Division elementary schools to have one, but Couture said he expects more schools to open one soon.