Grade 6 students work together to bring winter wonderland to life at Winnipeg school despite warm weather | CBC News
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While it hasn’t been an average Winnipeg winter, that hasn’t stopped Grade 6 students at Victoria-Albert School from taking full advantage of the weather.
They put together a plan to turn the playground at their inner-city school into a “winter wonderland” — and then took their plan to city hall to make it happen.
Students worked together to prepare a presentation for school administration before snow even hit the ground this winter. Once it was approved, they walked down to city hall to apply for funding for the project, which they later received.
That let them create a winter play space complete with hills for sledding, a broomball area and places to snowshoe — along with some snow hills for climbing, which have since melted due to the unusually warm weather.
But the students say the project helped create a more fun environment outside for everyone at the nursery to Grade 6 school, and their teachers are commending them for the teamwork and initiative they showed in making it a reality.
“It’s just the motivation to get us to all have fun at school,” said student Even Habte, 11.
“It was … kind of sad for us because all the students were just laying around, so we decided to make an idea to pitch and make a great time for all of us.”
The students partnered with a co-op called Hinterland to help bring the “winter wonderland” to life, said teacher Camille Roth.
The process began back in November, with the students looking ahead and dreaming about what they could do, she said. They also put up a map in their class to brainstorm what the playground could look like.
“Many, many of our students that go to our school are new to Canada or don’t get out of the middle of the city,” said Roth.
“We wanted to create a place for them, opportunities for them to have fun and learn how to have fun in Winnipeg winter.”
Grade 6 student Jeanne D’Arc Ansima said it’s been satisfying to see other kids who haven’t experienced winter before get a taste of what it can offer, and she’s proud of the work her class did.
“I’m so surprised I could do this because I’ve never done this … in my life,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, you did this.’ I was so happy for myself.”
The students have also been commended for their initiative on the project.
Lauren MacDiarmid, an educational assistant at the school, said the class has really taken ownership of the project. Seeing the older Grade 6 students helping out some of the younger kids on the snow hill and making sure they’re safe on the sleds has been an “overwhelming” experience, she said.
The older kids have also taken away important life lessons, like the fact “they have a voice, and if they want something, they can make it happen,” said MacDiarmid.
“I think empowering them in that way has been probably the best part of this whole project.”
And while the “winter wonderland” has been hampered a bit by the weather, that hasn’t put a damper on the spirits of the kids who created it, said student Even Habte.
“The first day all of this was presented, everybody was running to the hills and having fun,” he said. “So I think we’ve accomplished our goal.”
While it hasn’t been an average Winnipeg winter, that hasn’t stopped Grade 6 students at Victoria-Albert School from taking full advantage of the weather. They put together a plan to turn the playground at their inner-city school into a “winter wonderland” — and then took their plan to city hall to make it happen.
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