Valley Park.
An artist’s drawing of plans to revitalize Valley Park Middle School is centred on the addition of a cricket pitch, a small amphitheatre and increased community space. Local students will be making appeals to East York businesses in the new year for help supporting the plan.
Image/COURTESY
For the 1,200 students at Canada's largest middle school, their school yard is a very crowded place at lunch time.
Students at Valley Park Middle School jockey for space to play soccer, cricket or baseball in a space dominated by portable classrooms. But, these students aren't content to just complain about the problem, they're trying to do something to help alleviate it.
A group of 20 students have volunteered their time to be a part of the Go Green Cricket Field Presentation Team.
They'll be making a pitch to local businesses to help raise money for a $1.7 million revitalization project that would not only improve the school grounds for their use, but also the surrounding communities of Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park where green space is a scarcity.
"This community is very dense and there's not much room for us to interact," said Haroon Saber.
"We're hoping this is done to give us space."
Haroon is a Grade 8 student at the school and a member of the presentation team. He got involved with the project because he thought it was a great idea and there was a lot of enthusiasm for it.
The project's goal is to turn the school grounds into an oasis with a butterfly meadow, outdoor amphitheatre, herb and vegetable garden, interpretive marsh, and facilities to play cricket, soccer, baseball and basketball.
The new space will bring the Don River valley onto the school grounds and see the school yard extended back into the adjacent hydro field.
Lethiha Thillainadarajah is really looking forward to the amphitheatre.
"My dream is that hopefully we can come together as a community," said the Grade 8 student.
The students explain all of this in their presentation, which also includes a DVD component with testimonials from the project's landscape architect, Shompa Hai; two teachers; and co-chair of the committee, Lisa Green.
Students began meeting once a week at the beginning of November and they've been involved in every aspect of creating the presentation - from brainstorming about what should be included in the script to writing the script to doing rehearsals and finally tweaking the final product.
At their final rehearsal before the winter break, many students had their parts memorized and their enthusiasm was evident.
A few still needed to work on speaking slowly and loudly, but they have a few weeks to perfect their delivery before the first presentation on Jan. 19 to some businesses in Leaside.
Teacher Owen McDermott has been working with the team. He's a member of the Go Green Cricket Field committee. He said while it might be easier to have the adults handle the presentation or to send out flyers to local businesses, by getting the students involved it allows them the opportunity to develop important skills.
"It's like a learning experience that gives them an opportunity to develop the script and to go out and see things beyond the school," he said. "It's a real hands on thing."
The students are glad to learn team work and communication skills, as well as to have the chance to do something good not just for themselves.
"It's a really exciting opportunity," said Thillainadarajah. "We're representing our whole community. It's not just about us."
The space would be there for family picnics on the weekend or adult cricket matches in the evening or even for a possible community garden.
Saber isn't nervous at all about the presentation.
"I don't think any one of us should be nervous because we're doing this for a good cause...What we want to do is fundraise to make this dream come true," he said.
Grade 6 student Ahmed Raaba dreams of playing cricket on the field.
"My dream is I'll practice on the cricket field and become a good cricket player," he said.
As one of the younger students on the team, Raaba is one of the few who may still be a student at Valley Park when the dream becomes a reality. Saber and Thillainadarajah know they won't be able to use it as students, but they're still doing everything they can to make it a reality.
"We still have siblings and there's generations to come," Saber said.
Adds Thillainadarajah, "we're building something in the present to help people in the future."