A new place to play

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2020 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The kids have a new place to play at Joseph Teres School.

On Aug. 31, the school’s parent advisory council held a small ceremony just as the final touches were completed on a new play structure.

“I think for the community, even outside of school hours, this will be a real asset,” said Arlis Folkerts, principal at Joseph Teres School, which is located at 131 Sanford Fleming Rd. “We want the kids playing outside and being physically active.”

With COVID-19 protocols in place for schools to resume classes, having a new space for children to play is a big feature of the new play structure for the staff and students at Joseph Teres. Getting the project complete in time for back-to-school was key.

“The timing is perfect,” said vice-principal Pam MacDonell. “This will be a new, exciting space. And it’s accessible. We have a few students who use a wheelchair to get around, so this is going to be so awesome for them to be able to get right into everything.”

The new play structure is the result of over two years of planning and fundraising by the Joseph Teres School parent council. 

“They have been so amazing, keeping this high-profile and doing the fundraising,” Folkerts said.

“When we started with the planning phases, this was just a dream,” said Jennifer Warren, chair of the parent council. s

The project, which was designed in consultation with students, cost $154,999. The parent council was able to raise $30,000 over the past two years. The group was able to access public funding through grants from the City of Winnipeg’s Community Incentive Program and the provincial Building Sustainable Communities program to complete the project.

Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) and Radisson MLA James Teitsma both attended the opening ceremony, and spoke highly of the project and the parent council.

“The community is grateful for the work the parent council has done here,” Teitsma said. “What a blessing to start what could be a challenging school year with such a great new addition.”

“We’re so thankful to all the help we got from the community and the school division,” Warren said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”

“This playground would not have been made possible without the energy, dedication, vision and endless hours that our chair put into this project,” added Nicole Balla, vice-chair of the parent council.

The new structure includes a number of climbing features, slides in two sizes, and is wheelchair accessible. 

“The fact that it is an inclusive play structure is huge for this school,” Balla noted. “I think our school community was missing that.”

“A lot of kids said they wanted to make sure all kids can play,” Warren added. “That’s really nice to see, that they weren’t just thinking about themselves.”

One of the features, dubbed “swizzle sticks,” was important to students, who requested such transitional equipment owing to its potential use for the popular recess game Grounders.

“I like the monkey bars,” said Mia Schellenberg, a Grade 4 student at Joseph Teres. “The slide is very fun.”

“For the students to have something new, something interesting and vital in their day, that will be a real value added, because there will be some anxiety in coming back to school,” Folkerts said. “We’re just so excited to have the kids back, it makes all the planning and work we’ve done worthwhile.”