Scarborough School Needs Your Help To Build City’s First Fully-Accessible Playground
Posted August 30, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
But that will change this school year.
Selena is disabled and attends the most accessible school in the city. But while most of the building has been outfitted to accommodate the needs of disabled students, there’s still plenty of work to be done outside of class.
“It really breaks my heart watching her because it isolates her … her mom has to take her on these things and all the other kids can do it all by themselves,” Selena’s mother Rishma Esmail explained.
The young student is among 50 pupils at her school who currently can’t use the playground facilities. When asked what it would mean to her to be able to play with her friends at recess, Selena said, “It would be so much fun.”
The students, staff and parents of Scarborough Village Junior Public School in the Markham Road and Eglinton area are trying to create a first in the city – a playground accessible to all students.
They’ve raised half a million dollars in 14 months to make their dream a reality. Construction on the accessible play space was supposed to get underway last week, but those plans changed at the last minute.
A number of contractors had promised to volunteer their time and the school even had the backing of a renovation show on a TV network that was going to document the important project. But just four days before the work was going to start, the show told the school it was pulling out.
“I started to cry. I said to my husband … ‘If I need to, we will take a loan out so that these children have their playground,'” parent Lesley Rocklin said.
Despite the setback, parents, teachers and students are more determined than ever to build this playground. The school’s principal Bonnie Inglis called CityNews Education Specialist Cynthia Mulligan for help.
“Within five hours you completely, completely came in as heroes,” she said.
Breakfast Television will be live at the playground Thursday morning when construction begins.
Here’s some information on how you can help:
Email: villageplaygrounds@rogers.com
416.396.6560
