The Citizen, 2009-05-21, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2009.On June 13 the north yardat Colborne Central PublicSchool will undergo anincredible transformationwith the installation of a new
state of the art, fully
accessible playground
structure. New monkey bars,
swings, a picnic shelter - and
a brand new 400-metre track
are also part of the overall
project.
Like many schools across
Ontario, Colborne school had
its old playground structure
removed due to safety
concerns. To make matters
worse, a swing set was also
removed, leaving the children
with next to no play
equipment. For the last year
and a half, the children,
parents and surrounding
community have rallied
around the cause to build the
school – and the community –
a new playground.
Colborne school’s
community playground
committee feels extremely
fortunate to have been chosen
by so many organizations as a
model project worthy of
funding. The new playground
structure will be fully
accessible to allow physically
challenged children to have
access – as well as anyone
with mobility challenges,
such as parents with strollers
and grandparents babysitting
grandchildren.
Not only does this position
Colborne School for the
future by addressing new
legislative requirements, it
also opened the door to
funding that would not
otherwise been available –
funding that covered theadditional cost for anaccessible structure. Moreimportantly, as committeemembers agreed “it’s just the
right thing to do.”
During summer months, on
weekends and outside of
school hours, the playground
will be open to the
community and will represent
the first structure of its kind
within the municipality.
A partnership with the
Carlow Morning Star Masons
allowed the school to receive
an Ontario Trillium grant
towards the project. MPP
Carol Mitchell said “the
Colborne playground is a
wonderful project and fit the
criteria for Trillium perfectly
in achieving the goal of
making the community a
better place to live.”
Funding was also
generously granted from a
number of other
organizations, including
Ronald McDonald House,
Hydro One, Wal-Mart,
Goderich RONA, Goderich
Kinsmen and the Goderich
Lions Club. Numerous
parents and other local
businesses and organizations
have also generously
contributed to the cause, as
well as supporting a dance
and numerous other
fundraising activities
organized by the kids.
Colborne school was also
very fortunate to be one of 40
playground projects in
Canada this year to receive a
grant from an organization
called Let Them Be Kids.
This organization, founded by
renowned humanitarian andphilanthropist, Ian Hillsupports projects that bringpeople together around acommon goal in order to
make their community a
better place.
In this spirit, the
playground and other
structures will be built on
Saturday, June 13 as part of a
community build event.
Let Them Be Kids also
requests that the playground
structure be dedicated and
named after a fallen hero,
such as a soldier, police
officer or firefighter. The
playground committee asked
for suggestions from the
school community and the
decision has been made to
name the structure after
Detective Const. Rob
Plunkett. Detective Const.
Plunkett, originally from the
Auburn area, was a York
Regional police officer who
was killed in the line of duty
in 2007.
The new 400-metre track
will be dedicated to Mr. Bob
Leckie, a Second World War
veteran who spoke to
Colborne school kids every
Remembrance Day and who
was part of The Memory
Project, the Dominion
Institute’s flagship
educational programme,
designed to connect veterans
and students online and in
classrooms across the
country.
Mr. Leckie passed away in
2007 and was very much
admired by the children.
A formal dedication
ceremony will be held on
Wednesday, Sept. 23 for boththe new playground structureand track. The families of Rob Plunkett and Bob Leckiewill be invited, along with allthe many funding organizations, businesses andcommunity volunteers thathave all contributed to thisfantastic project.The money is raised, the
momentum is building – and
the kids are excited! Parents
and community members are
encouraged to register to help
at the June 13 playground
build event and offer
assistance with a variety of
tasks.
Big plans for Colborne school’s playground
Continued from page 1
start as early as public school,
he doesn’t see children
smoking outside of Blyth
Public School like he does
with the area high schools.
However, with both
recommendations just sitting
there, prepared to be accepted
or rejected, the delegations
reserved their better
judgement for the ARC
process itself, which many
felt was flawed from the
beginning.
Robert Hunking, a
concerned parent from the
Hullett area said the system
seemed hardly fair, when
taking into consideration that
the board would have “only
one proposal” before them:
the staff’s.
Hunking also objected to
the appeal process, of which,
there is none.
He said the community will
have no recourse after the
final decision has been made
on June 23, which is
unfortunate due to the last
minute inclusion of F.E.
Madill as a possible receiver
school.
Senior representative from
the East Wawanosh ward,
Muriel Coultes echoed
Hunking’s sentiments, saying
that the last-minute inclusion
of F.E. Madill in the ARC
process, “put the whole
process in jeopardy.”
Beaven agreed that it was
unfair of the board to include
Madill in the proceedings, as
it was not included from the
beginning, thus, changing the
terms of the agreement, but
added that if the board is
seeking a solution for the
area’s high schools, many of
the parents and ARC
members would be happy to
help.
North Huron reeve Neil
Vincent officially endorsed
the ARC recommendation on
behalf of the Twp. of North
Huron and called the ARC
process “deeply encumbered”
while saying the ARC
recommendation “understood
fiscal responsibility, while the
staff recommendation is not
thinking long-term.”
Morris-Turnberry mayor
Dorothy Kelly also brought
news from her council that it
has unanimously supported
the ARC recommendation in
a motion, which she presented
to the board that night.
Kelly repeatedly called the
staff’s recommendation
unacceptable and said that the
board breached the ARC
process contract when it opted
to include Madill in the
proceedings.
By changing the terms
of the contract in the middle
of the process, she said, the
board opened itself up to legal
action, to which Kelly said,
“the lawyers will have a field
day with this one.”
School spirit
Another one of Hullett Central Public School’s
spirit days was last week, with students
encouraged to wear clothes that display their
favourite colour. Back row, from left: Justine
Reid, Helen VandenHeuval and Jeroen
VandeWetering. Middle row, from left: Nicole
Middegaal, Kelsey Falconer and Courtney
Middegaal. In front is Leah Caldwell. (Shawn
Loughlin photo)
Delegations say
process flawed
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