June 4, 2018
Young ‘clients’ approve of their finished playground
Novel design process involved first-year engineering students and plenty of input from elementary school pupils.
A real-world project got a lot more real – and rewarding – when civil engineering students from the University of Waterloo returned to an elementary school for the recent grand opening of a new playground structure.
Pupils at Keatsway Public School in Waterloo try out the new playground structure designed by first-year Waterloo Engineering students.
The engineering students were part of a novel, competitive process to design the $75,000 structure last year after twice meeting with pupils at Keatsway Public School in Waterloo to listen to their ideas and feedback.
Its ultimate success was obvious to Adam Rywak, Rodrigo Santalla and Daniel Qi when excited kids streamed by them to try out the two-part, jungle-themed structure after a ceremonial ribbon-cutting.
“It looks like our clients are 100 per cent satisfied with the product we created for them,” said Rywak, one of about 140 students in a first-year mechanics class who took part in the project.
“It actually feels like we did something meaningful for the local community,” added Qi.
The importance of consulting customers was one of the key lessons that lecturer Rania Al-Hammoud hoped her students would take away from the project.
Worth 15 per cent of final marks in the class, the assignment included a pitch to pupils at an assembly and a vote on the top three designs by the school community at a fun fair a year ago.
“It worked,” Al-Hammoud said of the almost 18-month process. “We did something and we have an outcome which is beneficial for everybody.”
Penny Miller, right, the principal at Keatsway Public School, cuts a ribbon to officially open its new playground structure.
Penny Miller, the principal at Keatsway, was just as pleased with the end result and the consultation with her pupils along the way.
“I think that’s why they’re so invested in it,” she said. “They really feel this is their playground because they helped to make it happen.”
The playground opening was part of an event featuring entertainment, displays, games and food trucks to celebrate the school’s 40th anniversary.
While swarms of kids showed their approval of the completed structure by climbing, swinging and sliding on it, a few also stopped playing long enough to put it into words.
“Very fun,” said Caitlin Mooring, 8. “I like the height of it and how big it is.”
After word of the Keatsway effort spread, a second playground project – this time involving first-year environmental and geological engineering students – is now nearing completion at Vista Hills Public School in Waterloo.
