New wheelchair accessible playground opens at Walnut Road Elementary

From left, Assistant Superintendent Christy Northway, Surrey Board of Education Trustees Bob Holmes and Gary Tymoschuk, and Board Chair Laurie Larsen cut the final ribbon during the opening ceremony of the new playground at Walnut Road Elementary while principal John Horstead looks on.

Walnut Road Elementary is now home to a wheelchair accessible playground, thanks to the generosity of the surrounding community and astounding efforts by parents and staff to raise $140,000 in just three months.

The school held its opening ceremony in the snow today (Monday, Dec. 6), celebrating with parents, neighbours and numerous donors. Surrey Board of Education chair Laurie Larsen and trustees Bob Holmes and Gary Tymoschuk were on hand for the opening.

"Playgrounds give students an opportunity to collaborate with others, develop decision-making skills and successfully take on leadership roles," said Larsen. "Each of you have made an invaluable contribution to our community. And by making this structure inclusive and wheelchair accessible, we are ensuring that that every child can play and develop these important skills."

Principal John Horstead said initial fundraising efforts in early 2020 came to a halt when the pandemic started and were unable to resume until earlier in the school year. Despite the short, three-month window to raise money, the school managed to gather $140,000 through bottle drives, pizza nights, read-a-thons, a cheque-writing campaign and lots of community outreach.

"It was a project that brought our community together, our school together, everyone dug deep," he said. "A student came up with a loonie and said, 'I did the dishes last night and my mom gave me a loonie I want to give it to the playground,' and he put it in my hands.

"I had another student bring in his piggy bank and wanted to donate everything in it. I called his mom and she said, 'Yeah, he really wants to do this.' It was a real feel-good story."

The accessible playground is exciting news for April Giri, a Grade 2 student who is in a wheelchair. Her family donated $1,000 toward the playground as soon as they heard the school needed money to make it happen.

"We wanted to contribute and we spread the word to April's friends to help raise money," said her father, Prem. "Her friends were super excited to have a playground where April could play with them."

"Last summer, every day, she went with me to see if the playground was done before school started," said her mother, Anita. "Now she spends two or three hours on the playground and she still asks for more time!"

Horstead acknowledged all the community contributions, including donations from the Walnut Road PAC, resident Michelle Cupit, the City of Surrey, Dawson + Sawyer, Fleetwood International Church, Surrey Honda, Applewood Kia, Applewood Nissan, FortisBC, G&F Financial Group and Prospera Credit Union. He also thanked the parents and volunteers who came out during the summer to help install the playground ahead of school starting in September.

"It's a beautiful example of what people can do when we all come together and focus hard," he said. "The lesson is, if you want something bad enough, work really, really hard and you'll get it."

April's family echoed the sentiment, saying the new playground is very meaningful to them.

"Before this, April would have to wait for her eldest sister to leave the playground because her wheelchair couldn't get on it," said Prem. "Now she feels like this is her playground too."

Walnut Road Elementary principal John Horstead celebrates the official opening of his school's new playground.