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Committee fundraising for new playground equipment at L.T. Westlake |
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Wednesday, 12 March 2008 |
In the spirit of community, and an enhancement thereof, a new playground at L.T. Westlake school is closer to becoming reality.
By Sharon Ulrich
Taber Times
"At the school, we aren't just constructing this playground for the students but for the community as well," said Carla Saunders. "We are the only school located on the south side of Taber and our playground is used weekends, evenings and even during class time by our community."
As chair of the Playground Committee, Saunders explained the organization's goal is to complement the education students are receiving inside the school with safe, appropriate and fun playground equipment outside. Where the majority of the playground equipment was built in the 1970s with the ParticipACTION Program, the dated equipment has been deemed unsafe.
With a new section of the playground constructed and funds raised by a parent group in 1999 for students from Kindergarten through Grade 2, she indicated there was a need to replace the unsafe equipment designed for students in grades 3 through 5, some of which has already been removed.
"You don't want them sitting around all recess - you want them playing at recess. They sit all day at school, you want them active, so we really tried to find equipment that would spark their interests and try and keep them moving during recess."
Last spring, they formed a Playground Committee and took the proposal and budget to the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), which gained approval.
"As a parent, I really wanted something to happen. I didn't want (the equipment) to disappear and have nothing replace it. The kids play time is very limited - they don't have a lot of recess time and it gives them attractive and fun places to go and stay active during recess, which was definitely a goal of mine and the PAC committee."
Planning and fundraising efforts began, and from selling Kernels popcorn and Regal to a bottle drive and spelling bee, L.T. Westlake is now offering four prize packages through their raffle with a March 26 draw date.
The grand prize offers a Corb Lund autographed CD, two tickets to see Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans in concert April 2 in Calgary, along with a $25 Safeway gas card and $50 Earl's Restaurant gift card, second prize is a framed print of an eagle in flight, third prize is a queen-size tied quilt, while the fourth prize is an 8x10 framed cross stitch.
"Right now, we're just focusing on the raffle and trying to make it as successful as we can. We're very happy with the prizes - just like all of the things we do, we try and stay local and we thought what a better way to stay local than to try celebrating one of our local celebrities."
On top of the fundraising, partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Taber and a volunteer force from businesses and community members willing to donate equipment and installation hours, parents and students have also joined in.
"We can't build it without help and our theme is, Help Build Our Playground, and the parents and the students especially have jumped on board. They're so excited."
The Grade 3s put together a number of proposals with regard to their winnings from the Literacy Day Projects contest, and chose to donate their winnings, noted Saunders, and the Grade 4 students have donated all their proceeds from their recycling program and the Grade 5s have made and sold soup.
"It's just really exciting the kids are on board and very excited about it, especially the Grade 5s when they're not going to reap the benefits of it. They are leaving this year so they won't even get to play on it but they're excited about it and we've had great community support."
As for the project itself, after reviewing different playground equipment companies and catalogues, she noted they decided to stay local and have ordered equipment from Blue Imp in Medicine Hat.
Four different areas have been planned and designed which will feature an upper body circuit focusing on upper body strength for grades 3, 4 and 5 students.
She added two new swing set areas will have both regular swings and tire swings and another area will have a new type of climbing apparatus. An outdoor classroom with picnic tables and benches will complete the plans and be named the Kiwanis Outdoor Classroom to celebrate the club's contributions to the L.T. Westlake playground.
With a total budget of $69,000, Saunders said the committee needs to raise $20,000 before it can apply for the Community Initiatives Program (CIP) grant, which she anticipates having by the time the raffle is over. Additionally, word was just received of success in getting the Lethbridge Community Foundation grant, conditional on CIP grant approval.
Optimistically, she expects they could start putting equipment up in October, but it could be next spring depending on weather and when grant monies come in.
Raffle tickets are available at L.T. Westlake, Bar Al Beef, Peter's Home Harmony and Taber Framers at a cost of $5 each. |
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