A new playground at Langley’s Topham Elementary School was designed with input from students at the K-7 school in Walnut Grove.
Opened just in time for spring break, on Friday, March 5, the new facility at 21555 91st Ave. includes features like a “rolly” slide for student to play on and other elements, like a merry-go-round, designed to encourage kids to play together, teacher Katherine Davis explained.
“Some parts of the playground the kids actually got to develop and have some input on, so it’s really important to their sense of self-esteem as well,” Davis remarked.
Davis added the the new structure allows for a lot more “movement styles that we didn’t have on some of the older play structures.”
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The Ministry of Education provided $125,000 for the new playground, and the Topham Parent Advisory Council (PAC) contributed $15,000.
Topham Elementary PAC president Andrea Atkinson, praised the “engaged parent community” for supporting PAC fundraisers.
“The playground itself is incredible,” Atkinson enthused.
“It’s nice to see the old merry-go-round making a comeback,” she added.
“It’s the most popular structure on the playground right now with the older and younger kids lining up and taking turns on it.”
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Topham Principal Vanessa Jaggi called it a “play space that the Walnut Grove community can enjoy,” and thanked the ministry of education and the parents for the funding.
Last year, in September, Premier John Horgan announced the province would be spending another $5 million, the third such investment in as many years, to build playgrounds in B.C. communities “that need them most.”
Forty schools were to receive a $125,000 investments towards purchasing new, accessible playground equipment.
It was part of the Playground Equipment Program (PEP) to update aging infrastructure in B.C. schools.
Two other Langley schools, Nicomekl Elementary and Glenwood Elementary, have had new playgrounds built in the last two years.
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