Mandy Fisher’s spur-of-the-moment decision last spring to apply for a grant from Fortis Alberta naming her children’s school as a Safety Star, has paid off.
Last month FortisAlberta named Wild Rose as one of the top ten safe schools in Alberta. The prize comes along with a $2,500 grant and a banner, which the school has already proudly displayed.
The decision to apply really was a whim and happened after Fisher found a bookmark-style announcement about the new grant initiative inside her energy bill.
Fisher’s three children have all attended the school and she served for years as the secretary-treasurer on the Wild Rose School parents’ council. She knew the funds would be well used within the school, but there was only three weeks in which to submit the application, so she just went ahead and did the work required.
“I sat down and wrote a two-page essay and then went to the school and took photos of various safety aspects within the school,” she said.
In all, she listed 11 safety initiatives at Wild Rose and enhanced the submission with a calendar-style collage of photos that showed students engaged in safety initiatives.
“I did tell the principal I had done it, but it was sort of an ‘oh, by the way’ announcement,” Fisher said.
Now with the money on the way, the Wild Rose parents’ council will sit down with staff members next week to decide how best to use the funds within the school.
Elementary students at Robert Rundle School should be twice as happy next spring when their small playground gets rebuilt.
“Our school has embarked on rebuilding our smaller community playground,” said principal John Osgood, who explained that the school’s larger playground was rebuilt in 2003.
Members of the school’s parents’ council worked at a casino on the weekend to raise funds for the playground and have also promised to come out and help with the rebuilding project next year.
“We estimate the cost with manual labour at approximately $120,000,” said Osgood.
The school has been successful in receiving a $39,000 City of St. Albert Community Capital grant and has applied for a $60,000 provincial government’s Community Facilities Enhancement Grant.
“We’ll do one more fundraiser with the kids in the spring so the children feel part of the community development and are involved,” said Tim Osborne, co-chair of playground committee.
There will be few surprises for the youngsters who await the new monkey bars and swings because they have already seen the plans.
“The kids voted on the design they wanted,” Osborne said. “There will be a lot more slides. It’s also more inclusive for children with disabilities.”
