By Lara Fominoff @fomsy1 on Twitter

Agnes Davidson Elementary School children one step closer to getting new playground with $250,000 provincial grant

May 30, 2017 | 2:39 PM

LETHBRIDGE – “Who here has had slivers from the playground?” Agnes Davidson Elementary School Principle Broc Higgins asks.
 
Dozens of children seated on the school’s gymnasium floor at the assembly raise their hands and point with their other hand, to their fingers.
 
“Well, that may change soon, because we have an announcement to make,” he explains to the kids.
 
Higgins brings forward about half a dozen parents, including Michael Boh, who have have worked hard over the last few years, filling out grant applications, and organizing fundraisers to try and collect $620,000 to build a new playground for the students.
 
He announces that the school has received a $250,000 grant from the province’s Community Facility Enhancement Program to go towards the cost of the new playground.
 
In total, $544,000 has been raised over the last two years by the parent’s group, and Boh has become the Volunteer Project Manager.
 
“At the beginning it was a slow start, trying to undertand the grant process but we were able to identify a lot of these great community grants that are out there.”
 
But he says the group is still between $50,000 and $60,000 shy of their goal.
 
The group is hoping to ramp up their fundraising efforts in time to collect the money they need to begin construction in late August, and to have the playground completed for the next school year.
 
“You don’t realize how expensive playgrounds can be,” Boh explains. “It’s a daunting task. But a lot of people have really stepped up and took the lead.”
 
He says the current  playground is more than 30 years old – the oldest in the city. But it won’t simply be torn down or end up in a landfill.
 
“We were connected up with the Children’s Wish Foundation, and they have a little girl from the Colony in Lundbreck, and they were looking to try and get a playground for her and her community to help her socialize and enjoy and play out there. But they’re realizing how expensive playgrounds are.”
 
So the foundation has agreed to take the old playground and re-furbish it, making it stronger and safer for the colony to use.
 
The new playground, once it’s installed, will have a “dragon” theme to it, like the school’s mascot, Aggie.
 
“We’ve got a couple of dragon components in it,” explains Boh, “a dragon rock for them to climb on, and taking the school colours of blue and yellow as well to try and get it to integrate with the school.”
 
“Once it’s installed” he says with a smile, “it will be Lethbridge’s first Dragon Park.”