The Village of Clyde and Eleanor Hall School will get a new playground set this summer after Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Ken Kowalski presented the school’s enhancement society with a cheque for $67,645 April 6 in the school’s gym.
The money was a matching contribution from the province’s Community Facility Enhancement Program, which doubled the $67,000 the school community raised through several different fundraising initiatives.
“They had been raising the money for four years,” Kowalski said. “For such a small community it’s a lot of hot dogs.”
Kowalski added he was glad to be part of the presentation because of what he feels an MLA’s job is all about.
“I’ve always believed that the most important part of an MLA’s job is to work with your constituents,” he said, adding this was another opportunity for him to do just that.
Work on installing the new equipment is expected to start on June 29, said Linda McCoy, treasurer of the Eleanor Hall enhancement society. Thanks to the huge community effort that will go into building the playground, she said she anticipates construction will take only five days.
“It’s great for the kids,” she said. “There’s a new community being raised and coming up here and it will be great for them to have this.”
Principal Don Hinks said he is amazed that the community was able to work together to make the new playground a reality.
“It’s really unbelievable that people came together to raise the money,” he said. “A lot of people were involved.”
The new playground will make his job easier, he said, because the students will have more equipment to use and there will be less fighting over who can use what and when, directly impacting safety and discipline in the school yard.
Hinks could not contain his gratitude for the work the parent council put in to make the new equipment a reality.
“The parent council really took this by the horns, and now they’ll get to see the fruits of their labour,” he said. “It says a lot about the parents.”
