PREECEVILLE, Sask. — Preeceville School welcomed the addition of new playground equipment with a back-to-school barbecue and ribbon-cutting that officially opened the playground.
Leslea Hanson, vice-principal, and Ally Hull spoke about the process and what it means for the school and students before cutting the ribbon.
“On behalf of Preeceville School, I want to thank all of you for joining us today as we officially celebrate the grand opening of our new playground,” the duo stated.
“This is a pretty exciting day for our school — and it has been a long time coming.
“When this project began, we had a big goal: to create a space where our students could play, be active, spend time together and simply enjoy being kids. But turning that idea into the playgrounds you see around us took much more than a good idea. It took years of planning, fundraising, volunteering, donating, organizing and believing that we could make it happen.
“This playground truly belongs to our entire community because our entire community helped build it.
“We started off in 2021-2022 when the SRC decided to replace the playground that had been unsafe a few years before, to give the older kiddos a space to play. A donation from Helen and Sam Wen on behalf of the estate of Harry Toy, a member of the Preeceville community for many years whose final wishes were to assist children in finding joy while they are learning at school, sparked the fundraising along with the SRC’s continued fundraising journey with the support of so many people. Last year, we received significant funding from the Government of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association in the form of a playground grant. And then the volunteers, under the leadership of Andrew the playground guy and Kenton and Ally Hull, brought us to this finish line!
“Our students and SRC have worked incredibly hard to raise funds and keep this project moving forward. Our staff, families, School Community Council, local businesses, organizations, granting agencies, community members and many generous sponsors stepped forward in so many different ways. And we are grateful for every contribution.
“One of the things we are especially proud of at Preeceville School is the relationship between our school and our community. A school is about much more than what happens inside its classrooms. It is a gathering place, a place where relationships are built and a place that belongs to the community around it.
“This playground is a wonderful example of what can happen when a community comes together around its young people.
“For years to come, children will climb, jump, laugh, make friends, challenge themselves and create memories here. Many of them will never know the names of all the people who helped make this playground possible, but they will benefit from your generosity every single time they come out to play.
“Today, we celebrate more than a new playground. We celebrate our students, our families, our supporters and a community that continues to show up for its school. We still have a couple of things to complete before we deem this project finished. We need to install a couple of pieces that did not come in on time, solve the water situation that happens on one side of one structure, put in some borders and get our sponsor signage up. We are also envisioning some seating for families by each structure when they come to watch their kids play. So, to that end, we are still accepting sponsorship for this project.”
