Sunshine Hills Elementary is getting a huge upgrade to its playground thanks to a $200,000 commitment from the provincial government.
Members of the school’s faculty and parent association recently joined representatives from the Delta School District, school board trustees and North Delta’s MLA for a photo op to celebrate the funding, which will allow the district to replace 35-year-old play structures in front of the school original to Sunshine Hills Elementary’s construction.
While the design has not been finalized, the new playground will be accessible and built to suit children from five to 12 years of age.
Delta North MLA Ravi Kahlon called the news exciting, adding this piece of the school’s infrastructure is important not just for the students, but the larger community as well.
“That’s certainly something we learned through the pandemic is we need more outdoor spaces. We need this type of space not only for physical activity, but for mental health as well. This park is already busy, and having a new playground that’s accessible is going to be fantastic for the community,” Kahlon told the Reporter at the May 8 event.
“And this couples perfectly with the brand-new track that’s being built a few blocks here at Seaquam. I don’t think we’ve seen this type of investment in Sunshine Hills in a long time,” he added. “It’s so exciting for the neighborhood, and exciting for the community.”
On top of the province’s contribution, the school’s PAC has raised another $100,000 or so for the project over the last seven-and-a-half years — almost immediately after the old rotting wood structures at the back of the school were removed in late 2017 and replaced with new equipment that officially opened in September of 2018.
That new playground ate up $65,000 raised over the previous four years to replace the front playground, putting the PAC back to square one.
PAC co-chair Joyt Uppal told the Reporter that replacing the structures in front of the school has been a priority given their state of repair and related safety concerns.
“Co-chair Candace Basi and myself, we’ve really tried to push it and get the community involved because our kids go here, and then even prior to our kids going here, we would come here to play. Even some of the parents on the PAC, this is their original playground when they went to this school 30 years ago,” Uppal said.
“So it definitely has been a community effort, whether [parents] are on PAC or not. We’ve really tried to push and get this fundraising, do the advocacy, try to get the attention here, talk to the district. We’re so fortunate that we’ve been able to raise so much money.”
As the design and cost of the new playground has not been finalized, the PAC continues to fundraise, through both a GoFundMe page (gofundme.com/f/build-a-new-playground-for-sunshine-hills-elementary-school) and community events like the annual Family Fun Night.
Happening this Friday (May 22) from 5 to 7:30 p.m., the event features a “sweet stroll,” carnival games, face painting, a photo booth, mini soccer games, food trucks, raffles, a silent auction (on now at 32auctions.com/silentauctionsunshine26) and more. Additional details are posted on the PAC’s Instagram (instagram.com/sunshinehills_pac)
“All of the funds that we’re going to be raising there, depending on how much the playground costs, we are more than willing to sort of pass that through to just make this such a great, elevated playground, not only for the school’s students but for the Sunshine Hills community.”
Uppal said the school district and Sunshine Hills Elementary’s administration have been “super supportive, super collaborative with us,” adding the PAC feels fortunate that they want to have parents be part of the process.
School board chair Joe Muego said he can’t say enough about the collaboration that happens between the province, school district and, in some cases, the city when it comes to supporting projects like these.
“I think that over the past four years at least, the province has been very consistent with throwing their hat in the ring to help out the schools. So we really appreciate that,” Muego told the Reporter.
“That mental health aspect, the physical health aspect for the kids is something that, as a board, we stand behind; it’s in our strategic plan, it’s very important and we understand that. So we’re really excited for the community.”
Trustee Val Windsor noted that in six of the last seven years, the district has received funding for a new playground.
“We’ve done very well when it comes to getting new playgrounds which are desperately needed. I mean, these are very old, and we don’t receive funding through our block funding for playgrounds and that sort of thing, so this is definitely a bonus.”
Windsor commended the school’s PAC for their doggedness in getting the project to wear it is, funding-wise.
“They’ve been working hard to do it. They’re a very dedicated group, you’ve got to hand it to them.”
Meanwhile, the City of Delta is currently soliciting feedback on its plans to replace the playground in the adjacent Sunshine Hills Park. Project details are posted at letstalk.delta.ca/sunshinehillspark, along with a feedback form open until June 7.
The city is also hosting in-person engagement events at Sunshine Hills Park on Thursday, May 21, from 4 to 6 p.m., and on Saturday, May 23, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.