News Item

News item – Mt. Prevost gets $50,000 for new playground

Students at Mt. Prevost middle school will have a playground, probably later this school year, thanks to $50,000 from the provincial government. The grant is one of 44 for playgrounds in schools across BC which currently do not have playgrounds.

These 44 new school playgrounds and more than one hundred upgraded, replaced or recently installed playgrounds are thanks to $8 million over two years from the province.

“This is good news for Mt. Prevost,” said school district superintendent Joe Rhodes on hearing the news on September 2.

Mt. Prevost principal Jaime Doyle’s first reaction was “Wow!”

“Not only will our school benefit but so will the community as a whole. Play is an integral part of our philosophy of education at Mount Prevost because when kids play they learn; when kids laugh they remember,” he said.

“Why is it that after 30 years you still remember the rules to Monopoly yet you haven't played it in well over a decade?” he mused. “You remember because it was fun, because it was play,” he added.

“With this announcement the bigger kids finally get to play too - hey I'll probably be the first one out there," he said.

In her announcement, Premier Christy Clark also spoke about learning outside the classroom.

"Learning continues outside the classroom and playgrounds are a venue where kids come together and learn from each other through play,” she said. “Playgrounds are a reminder to all of us that providing access to safe spaces helps make kids happier, healthier and ready to learn."

Clark said that public elementary and middle schools province-wide will be eligible for the playground funding, which will ensure that every public elementary school - and every middle school that wants one - will have a playground for their students. Currently there are about 1,347 public elementary and middle schools in B.C. - 44 of which have been identified as having no playground equipment at all - and these are the schools that will be given first priority.

The Ministry of Education is currently working with school districts and parent advisory councils in the province to identify schools that had playgrounds built this year that will benefit from up to $50,000 in reimbursements. The remaining funds will go towards upgrading or replacing equipment at existing public school playgrounds.

To ensure that every public elementary school has a playground for students from the time they open, the Ministry of Education will be amending their capital project agreement with school districts to include the installation of playground equipment when building an elementary school.