A Grade 5/6 class at Roland School is putting creativity and community spirit into action by designing a new sensory pathway for the town’s refurbished tennis courts.
After the Rural Municipality (RM) of Roland received a grant to refurbish the old tennis courts, they asked the school if any classes would be interested in helping with the project. The idea was to create a sensory path to cover the floor of the courts, so people of all ages could use it for more than just tennis. Grade 5/6 teacher Vanessa Millions jumped at the opportunity, knowing she had numerous students in her class who enjoy art and are quite good at it.
Millions connected with the local council and designed a project for her class that would complete the task while combining math, English and art to do so.
“They can get their own design out there to see,” she said. “And as they grow up, they can see their work out there from when they were this age.”
When she brought the idea up to her class, they were all excited about it from the get-go. The project allowed the students to create something from scratch for the community to use while incorporating their own interests into it.
First, Millions had her class research sensory pathways. They looked at the different kinds and found the one most feasible for them: a painted 2D path. She then had the students start designing their own sensory pathways, either alone or in groups, using an overall theme and meaning.
“They were in love with that because they got to choose something they like,” she said, noting one student made their pathway on a Star Wars theme because it’s their favourite movie series.
“I said, ‘We have to think about the community first,’” said Millions. “Who will use it and what would they want?”
The Roland School Grade 5/6 class decided their pathway, however it ended up, needed to be accessible. They ensured the pathway designs all had activities for people of all abilities so no one would be left out when it came to revamping the tennis courts. Millions said that wasn’t part of the project — the students added that part themselves.
Once each pathway design was complete, the class did a gallery walkthrough and gave each other constructive feedback on their works. They then went back and revised, then brought forth each design to be voted on.
Students voted for a first, second and third place path, and the design with the most votes is what Millions submitted to council to be approved. The winning design had an overall animal theme. The entrance and exit started with the ocean and sea creatures, with the entrance leading into a forest for forest animals, then a sandy sort of desert portion. Council was extremely excited about the idea, said Millions.
Each design also had to come with a set of rules written by the students for the graphic designer to use when scaling the image and applying it to the actual path. If all goes according to plan, the path should be sketched out sometime in June and ready for the Grade 5/6 class to paint before they leave for summer break. Community volunteers will help finish the painting as well during after-school hours.
“I just think it was amazing how well they worked together,” said Millions. “One of my students, who’s usually quite shy, totally came out of her shell while doing this. She was having so much fun.”
Millions is excited for her class to see their work drawn out before them and for them to make it come to life with vibrant paints.
