Wheelchair users will soon roll with ease onto one of Namao’s new playgrounds thanks to a $90,000 grant from the province.
MLA Colin Piquette dropped by Namao School Friday to present staff with a $90,000 Community Facility Enhancement Program grant to improve the school’s accessible K-3 playground.
The school built the playground last year with the help of an $83,000 federal grant after six years of work by its fundraising association. Completed this September, the playground was the last of the school’s three playgrounds to be upgraded and the first in the region to be wheelchair accessible.
The problem was that the playground had a wood-chip surface that, while better than sand, wasn’t ideal for wheelchairs, said principal Paul Harnish. This grant will let the school replace most of the chips with poured-in-place rubber, and add sandboxes and an accessible swing to the playground.
The school’s playgrounds are an important attraction for Namao, a community with no real town centre, Harnish said.
“It doesn’t just support the school, but all the families that live in the area.”
St. Albert Public is getting big, and the board wants to hear from residents about how it should change as it grows.
About 12,000 St. Albert-area residents were invited to take an online survey this week by the St. Albert Public School board on what direction the board should take as it nears a population of 10,000 students.
“We’ve had some really unprecedented growth in the last number of years,” said associate superintendent Marianne Barrett, with the board’s K-to-9 population growing by about 30 per cent in recent years.
While the district hasn’t reached 10,000 students yet (it was at about 7,500 as of September), the board wanted to check with parents to see what its priorities should be in the near future, Barrett said. There was nothing significant about the 10,000 figure, she added.
The board will likely reach a population of 10,000 by 2023, said associate superintendent Michael Brenneis.
Survey results are due Nov. 11.
A St. Albert high school club is giving both football players and special needs students a boost.
The Bellerose Composite Bulldogs Football Booster Club held its annual wrap-up pizza party Thursday.
The club formed three years ago to rally students in support of the Bulldogs football team, said Bellerose teacher Cassandra Kompf.
“In the process, we ended up getting a lot of our Goals students involved with it,” she said, referring to the school’s program for students with learning or physical disabilities.
“They’re the biggest fans of football games, they cheer on our players.”
The club has now morphed into a way for special needs and other students to socialize, with about half its 30 members being from the Goals program, Kompf said.
“It provides that opportunity for exposure to everyone in the school.”
Club members sit in the front row of the bleachers at Bellerose games and cheer on the Bulldogs while decked out in school regalia. They also meet one-on-one with players at regular luncheons.
Jessica Jennings, a 2015 Bellerose grad back this year to coach the school’s cheer team, said she learned a lot about patience and responsibility working with the Booster Club.
“It shows us a whole other part of the school which a lot of the students don’t really know about and don’t really get to interact with.”
The best part of the club is being in the front row at games so you can see the players up close, said Goals student and club member Kalen Mussieux.
“I like to meet new friends and be with the football players.”
Bulldogs player Nick Allen said it’s great to see the club members cheering his team on, win or lose, and to have the chance to sit and talk with them after the game.
“I’ve gotten to know everyone in the Booster Club,” he said, and he hoped to keep meeting with club members at lunch during the off-season.
Although club activities are officially over for this year, organizers said the club will mobilize for playoff games where possible
