It’s almost playtime for students at École Qayqayt Community School, which has made it to the next round for a hefty grant to fund a new playground.
The John Robson parent advisory council applied for a grant from the Aviva Community Fund contest, which is giving away $1 million for ideas to create positive change in Canada. Their application was accepted, and it will now go onto the next phase of voting, which takes place between Dec. 2 and 11.
“We have really dedicated parents and very energetic ones, which is good,” said parent organizer Ronda Field. “So they are out there beating the drum and promoting it any way they can, which is good.”
Community members wanting to help the school in its bid to get funding from the Aviva Community Fund can go www.avivacommunity
fund.org and enter Qayqayt in the search box.
“And so we will be working very hard to get the vote out, to get people registered on the Aviva site and get them to vote every single day,” said Serena Trachta, chair of the Robson parent advisory council.
It was Field who submitted the application to the Aviva Community Fund on behalf of the Qayqayt community playground committee. The playground is expected to cost $50,000 to $100,000.
“The way we found out about (the grant) is that at my old school, they got grants for their playground – that was at Lord Selkirk in Vancouver. So that was about three or four years ago, so I’ve been sort of mentioning this, and finally we decided to do it,” Field said.
The goal is to build two play sites on the new elementary school (located on the Saint Mary’s Hospital site), which will house Robson students when it opens next fall.
“In a perfect world what we’re looking at is an adventure, natural-themed playground for the older kids, and (we are) trying to get barrier-free elements on the lower playground,” Field explained.
The small school site does have challenges, she said. “Part of the problem is that the site is so small; the areas are so small. It’s going to be very challenging to get anything in the way of equipment in there.”
But having the grant funds would certainly help to build a top-notch playground where kids in the downtown can run around, use their imaginations and make memories for years to come.
The next step is to boost voting through the online fund.
“So this is really the last push because this is really the last time where we really need community support,” Field said. “Like we really need everybody on board for Dec. 2 to 11.”
She also noted that kids can vote as long as they have parental consent and their own email address.
“I’ve got five email addresses, there are five people living in my house,” Field said, laughing. “Everybody push the button once a day. OK, push the button.”
ACTION:
Walk out: They’re taking to the streets in a bid to raise awareness of the cause. John Robson Elementary School families will gather at Sixth Street and Sixth Avenue – in front of the Royal City Centre – at 11 a.m. on Nov. 30 and make the trek to the site of their new downtown school on Royal Avenue.
