Main photo: Some of the Huntsville Public School students and staff working to raise enough money for an accessible playground in the school yard, (front row from left) Hudson Douglas, Ben Power, Sam Power, Malcolm Willows, Marisa McCarey, Robyn McKenzie; (second row from left) Jessica Aben, Silas Knappett, Molly Lalonde, Madeleine Rheubottom, Cassie Harwood; (third row from left) Haven Polischuk, Lacey Chambers, Avary Strickland, Dale Graham, Mya Marshall; (back row from left) Jamie-Lee Moore, Tracy McCarthy, Amy Dore, Emily Fitzgerald, and Kerri-Lynne Knappett. (Not pictured: Kate McNaughton and 13 students who cannot be named for privacy reasons.)
Students and teachers at Huntsville Public School (HPS) were blown away by a recent donation to their accessible playground project. An anonymous donor contributed $20,000, putting the students’ dream of a playground everyone can use, regardless of ability, within reach.
“I was rendered silent for a really long time,” said teacher Kerri-Lynne Knappett of the donation. “It was just so unexpected and great.”
She took the news back to students and gave each of them the option of writing an anonymous letter of thanks in return. Some did, and one in particular from a student who’s had a rough year brought Knappett to tears. “(The student) was so touched that someone would anonymously give something and want no credit for themselves…it was a really great example of the human spirit and how life really is good.”
Those letters have been given to the person who brought in the donation to be passed along to the donor.
The project was initiated last school year by 28 students in Madame Cyr’s grade 6/7 class and aided by teachers who came on board to help them. They quickly discovered that it was going to cost a lot of money to build their dream — the initial estimate came in at more than $375,000 with a later adjustment due to an error in the quote pushing it to just over $400,000. Undaunted, they started raising money last year with the goal of installing a playground at the school that every student and every child in the community would be able to play on.
How much they still need to raise is a bit of a moving target as they continue to receive quotes for various pieces of the playground. What they do know is that they have to build this summer — they’ve receive a grant for the rubberized surface that has to be used by then.
“This donation has taken the pressure off us as a school to raise so much within a community where many don’t have the access to give,” says Knappett. “It’s up to us as a school to still raise quite a substantial amount to meet this one quote that we have.”
A playground will be built in the summer regardless of how much more they raise, and it will have accessible features, says Knappett. “That playground will be a structure that every student and every child in the community regardless of their abilities can play with all of their friends and family members together on. We will ensure that. It might not be the playground we have been dreaming of but with the money we have so far we will have something new, it is going to be able to go ahead.”
But they will continue to fundraise with the ultimate playground in mind, the one that the students want to be able to provide for their classmates, friends and community members. This latest donation means they have about 10 per cent of their goal left to raise.
A rendering of the proposed accessible playground at Huntsville Public School
“(The students) are just all blown away by the fact that they could have come up with this and as a result people are responding and listening to what they have to say,” says Knappett. “That makes them feel special and listened to and valued as a members of society. I think it’s really great that the community has responded to them this way.”
Related stories:
HPS accessible playground project is $80,000 closer to goal thanks to Rotary and school board
HPS is building an accessible playground for all kids
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Wonderfful for all the children. Thank you so much somebody!
And this once again is what makes this community so incredible!