Fort Sackville School has a new playground

Fort Sackville Elementary School, located in the heart of Bedford and part of the Ecole Sunnyside Elementary School system, opened its new play set this month to the delight of over 100 grade primary and one students, staff, parents and community members who attended the opening celebration.

Complete with monkey bars, a tortoise shell rock wall, a super neat “Picasso” climber, a big purple double wave slide, a leaf climbing pole, butterfly roof and rooster weather vane, this play set was custom designed to encourage fun physical activity for young children while still appealing to the older elementary aged children who live in the surrounding community.

Last spring a group of parents and community members formed the Fort Sackville Playground Committee in order to address the lack of playground equipment and overall aesthetics of the playground.

With generous financial and service contributions from the community and HRM, the Fort Sackville playground was installed in record speed in less than 5 months, from idea to installation, and within a relatively modest $17,000 budget.

The entire Fort Sackville School Community gives sincere thanks to Sherry Moore and her staff at Scotiabank Bedford Place Mall, as well as to Councilor Tim Outhit, the Sunnyside Elementary Home & School Association, Billy Joe McInnis from TD Canada Trust Bedford Highway, Shaw Resources, The Kroll and Lugar Families, Pat Hyde, Deborah Beck from the HRSB Purchasing Group, and to Joe Ryan and Therese Delorme from HRM’s parkland operation and planning groups.

Also thanked are the parent volunteers who championed the project; Jyl Lienaux, Tanya Waddell, Susan Rizcallah, Donna Lugar, Denise Kroll, Maggie Barnhill, Trina Sangster and Heather Carlin, as well as the school’s Head Teacher Adele Hazel, Vice Principal Lynne Sears and Principal Kim Nadeau, who gave it their full support.

Thanks also goes to our proudly Canadian play set supplier, Jambette, for their diligent service and inspiring creative play set product that was specifically designed for the children of Fort Sackville.

All will agree that seeing the happy faces of upside down, hanging, climbing, sliding, and laughing children makes the effort involved in creating this wonderful new play set well worth it!