Volume 1, Issue 3
‘I had no idea the impact this playground would have, I just thought I was putting in another playground’
Play time is now inclusive
Abdi Mohumed Gelle and sister Nasteha enjoy the “saddle” swing at the wheelchair accessible playground at Holly Elementary School in Surrey.
Disabilities or no disabilities, kids are playing together, thanks to new inclusive playground
Marisa Babic Staff Writer
W
hen the bell rings for recess at Holly Elementary School, the kids charge for the playground. All the students pile onto the special equipment, the “saddle” swing, the wide and low-slung teetertotter and the jungle gym with extra support grips, their screams and laughter filling the air. The “regular” playground on the other side of the sports field sits empty. “I had no idea the impact this playground
would have, I just thought I was putting in another playground,” principal Mary Gibbons says with a note of wonder in her voice, even though she has witnessed the joyously chaotic scene many times before. The wheelchair accessible playground was officially opened earlier this spring. With the help of child development experts, the equipment was specially designed to enable children with various disabilities to play on it. But the children without disabilities don’t care — everyone plays together. Gibbons says the playground has become so popular that students take turns using it. Playtime
Brian Howell Photo
is limited to one or two grades a day, which are announced over the PA system each morning. “It’s so popular and so many kids want to go on it,” she says. A total of $109,094 was raised to design and construct the facility. Almost half of the funding for the specialized equipment, $49,976, was provided by the Let’s Play initiative, a partnership of the Rick Hansen Foundation and the province. The Holly Community School Society contributed $7,000 to the project. see PLAYGROUND, page 4