My Grade Threes heard about the playground burning down at High Park. They wanted to do something to help, so they spent the week writing persuasive paragraphs convincing their peers to contribute loose change to the cause.
On Friday morning, we predicted how much, and then counted the collected money in the jar over the course of the week.
When I got home Friday night, I went online and made a donation for the total amount raised by my class.
This weekend, Trevor and I took the boys to High Park to check out the destruction first hand. Although the toddler area was virtually untouched, the damage to the affected area was profound. The once beautiful towers that rose high above the playground, and signalled its existance to all who drove down Parkside Drive, were completely burned to the ground. The big slide was gone, too. Police tape surrounded the area, and big red signs proclaimed “danger!” in loud letters.
On Friday morning, we predicted how much, and then counted the collected money in the jar over the course of the week.
When I got home Friday night, I went online and made a donation for the total amount raised by my class.
This weekend, Trevor and I took the boys to High Park to check out the destruction first hand. Although the toddler area was virtually untouched, the damage to the affected area was profound. The once beautiful towers that rose high above the playground, and signalled its existance to all who drove down Parkside Drive, were completely burned to the ground. The big slide was gone, too. Police tape surrounded the area, and big red signs proclaimed “danger!” in loud letters.
(click photos to enlarge)
It was heartening to see many families with children, undeterred by the events of the past weekend, out at the park anyway, playing in the area that had been salvaged from the flames.
While at the park, we dropped in to see the High Park Zoo, and I was reminded that this gem, too, is in danger, thanks to some poor decisions made by our current "Mayor", Rob Ford.
It was heartening to see many families with children, undeterred by the events of the past weekend, out at the park anyway, playing in the area that had been salvaged from the flames.
While at the park, we dropped in to see the High Park Zoo, and I was reminded that this gem, too, is in danger, thanks to some poor decisions made by our current "Mayor", Rob Ford.
Chatting with a volunteer who was out in the park doing some fundraising to help save the High Park Zoo, I discovered that one good thing about the terrible arson in the nearby playground was that attention had been quite focussed on High Park in general for the past week, and many people were rediscovering this Toronto landmark. The small zoo, in dire need of funding to survive the city's budget cuts, has benefitted from the media spotlight of the past week. As the community rallies to rebuild the playground, the nearby zoo has also gotten a little more attention, and will hopefully get the funding it needs to survive another year.
It seems that every cloud has its silver lining.
It seems that every cloud has its silver lining.
RSS Feed