The staff and parent council of the Herons Crossing Elementary School are hard at work trying to raise money for a playground for the school and community.
At present, the group has raised about $15,000 and are striving towards their goal of $50,000 to get construction started on phase one of the playground.
The school officially opened in November 2012 and Principal Suzanne Martin says that there has been a lot of support for this initiative.
ìRocky View Schools has been a great supporter, theyíve given us a guide of playgrounds and suppliers that we can look at,î said Martin. ìItís extremely expensive and playgrounds arenít something that Alberta Education funds when building a school.î
Martin has experience with the Calgary Board of Education in securing Community Initiative Project (CIP) grants and is hopeful that when the school is able to reach their goal of $50,000 raised, they will be able to obtain a matching grant from the Alberta government in order to get construction of the playground underway.
The playground itself is more than just a play structure for children, according to Martin; she and the schoolís parent council and fundraising committee are looking to build a natural and inclusive playground that will cater to the needs of all children.
ìItís about the safety of the kids,î said Martin. ìWhen youíre talking about risks with playgrounds the biggest one is head injuries; with a natural playground rather than having stairs, you would have the terrain shaped for the kids to get around with slopes and ramps.î
Nancy Fraser is a member of the Herons Crossing parent council and her five-year-old daughter is a student at the school. She has been working with the parent council on a number of different fundraising initiatives including, pop can collection, school dances and an upcoming rummage sale on Nov. 30.
ìThe playground will not only be for the school, but for the entire neighbourhood (Reunion),î said Fraser. ìThere arenít any playgrounds in that area so this will be something that everyone can use.î
Martin says the schoolís bottle drives have been bringing in close to $1,000 monthly and she is proud of the work of the parent council and fundraising committee for implementing community friendly initiatives to raise money.
ìThis is not about grabbing cash, itís about building a community with these pay-it-forward ideas that raise environmental and civic awareness,î said Martin. ìWeíre bringing a community together to raise funds in an impactful way.î
Both Martin and Fraser are hopeful they will be able to reach their goal of $50,000 and secure a provincial grant so construction can get started as soon as the start of the 2014/2015 school year.
