The current playground at the school. (Supplied)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

$350,000 GOAL

St. Teresa of Avila Schools seeking donations for inclusive playground

May 23, 2024 | 11:15 AM

Parents and staff at St. Teresa of Avila School are raising money to build a new inclusive playground for the diverse students in their campus and community. Their goal is to raise $350,000 by spring 2025.

Home to the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) Foundations Program, the elementary school serves 41 students with complex learning needs. The program focuses on communication, self-care, basic literacy and numeracy, personal, social and vocational skills. Each student receives an instructional support plan tailored to their needs and abilities.

“My son attends the Foundations Program and while he himself has full mobility, many of his classmates use walkers or wheelchairs — mobility assistance devices — and the school is so amazing about inclusion and creating a rich learning environment for the kids and one of the barriers is the playground. Over the years I’ve seen it firsthand: some of the kiddos not necessarily engaged on the playground but rather on the asphalt,” says Jessica Worden, the parent lead of the fundraising committee for the project.

Inclusive playgrounds utilize different equipment and design features to make the structures accessible to children with mobility aids and specific communication needs. Red Deer does have one playground of this nature at Mattie McCullough Elementary, on the southeast side of the city.

“Having a playground in the north side of Red Deer as a community playground would be hugely beneficial, not just to our school, but to communities and families right around us,” says Dana Pikkert, principal at the school. “We have a student whose dad is in a wheelchair, so how beautiful would it be if they could go and play at the park together rather than dad watching from the sidelines while his little guy is up and playing, calling back to him.”

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Their playground currently has a sand base that prevents mobility aid users from easily navigating into and around the space. If the funds they need are raised, they intend to replace this with a smooth rubber base to solve this problem.

Additionally, the inclusive structure would have swings designed to accommodate wheelchairs and mobility aids, and ramps for easy access to all equipment. For those with sensory or communication needs, the grounds will have vision-enhancing components and a board with images that non-verbal children can use to interact with their peers.

So far, they have raised $57,000. Pikkert says they will be holding a silent auction in June, followed by a 50/50 draw, and hopefully many more opportunities to get involved following that.

She reminds residents that the reason for their fundraising is the lack of government funding provided for playgrounds. In addition to donated funds, Pikkert is searching for grant opportunities such as the CFEP grant that would ideally match the funds once they reach a certain benchmark.

“We feel that the entire community would benefit from it and that everyone should have a chance to laugh and play, so any help would be greatly appreciated. It would make a huge difference not only for our students, but for Red Deer, I believe,” she says.

Finally, once funds for the structure itself are raised, Pikkert is hoping to secure in-kind donations of people’s services and time as the current playground will need to be dismantled and the land will need to be prepped.

“The city is such a beautiful place that works so hard already at inclusion, and this is just one more step to being the amazing, generous community that we already are… Red Deer is a great community and I think that together, we can make this dream happen,” says Worden.

Donations to the project can be made online, or by cheque.

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