VIU Nursing professor Anita Carroll (l-r) and fourth year Nursing students Alicia Manhas, Mary Baines and Julia Ehmann are seeking community support for the Khowhemun Elementary School project. Your votes on the Aviva Community Fund website will give them the best chance of success as securing $100,000.
October 2, 2015 - 3:45pm
Your quick clicks online could make all the difference for a Vancouver Island University (VIU) Nursing program initiative that aims to install new outdoor play equipment, a walking path and a sheltered community gathering place at Duncan’s Khowhemun Elementary School.
An application for $100,000 in funding to complete the project at the Kindergarten to Grade 7 school has been made to the Aviva Community Fund. The Khowhemun project will be competing for funds with many other projects in Canada, requiring community support through an online “voting” process that counts heavily in project evaluation.
Students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, along with their professor, Anita Carroll, are asking for the community’s support in voting for the Khowhemun project at www.avivacommunityfund.org.
“It’s really simple to vote,” says 4th year Nursing student Julia Ehmann, who spent a semester last term working with students, parents, teachers and the community surrounding Khowhemun Elementary. “You register on the site, which takes a few seconds, then make sure you vote once every day from Oct. 6 to 23.”
The project is currently listed on the Aviva Community Fund site as project “ACF32639.”
Ehmann and her Nursing student colleagues spent a semester last year working at Khowhemun School on a community health project, which involved a detailed survey of the school community to learn its health and wellness priorities.
“One of the biggest things the families said they wanted was more input and involvement from the community,” Ehmann said. “That’s why we’ve created this project, because it is not only for students but also for the surrounding community.”
Professor Carroll and the Nursing students have the endorsement of School District 79, whose staff have assisted with working through the planning and design for their project, and have also gained support and assistance from the Cowichan Tribes and community businesses and organizations.
The detailed plan proposed for Khowhemun includes a walking trail around the back field of the school with trail education boxes along the pathway; a dry riverbed constructed to promote imaginative play; a tire play structure; fun, interactive games painted on the pavement; an outdoor workout circuit for school children and community members; and a gazebo-style gathering place and rock circle for outdoor learning.
Fundraising for the project is underway, including a silent auction Sept. 25 that raised almost $1,800.
Carroll has been working with her first and third year Nursing students at Khowhemun Elementary School for the past three years.
“I’ve been so happy to see the response of our students, who have learned so much about community nursing in their experience at Khowhemun, and to rally the support of the community – staff, students, teachers, community members, and local businesses, who have come together to support this proposal,” Carroll said. “Now all that is left – and this is the big piece – is to get the community to vote for our project.”
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More Information
To vote for the Khowhemun Elementary School project, see www.AvivaCommunityFund.org – enter project I.D. ACF32639.
For updates on the Khowhemun Elementary School project and other school news, see www.Facebook.com/KhowhemunElementarySchool
Media Contact:
Shari Bishop Bowes, Communications Officer, Vancouver Island University
P:250.740.6443 C: 250.618.1535 E: Communications@viu.ca T: @viunews
Tags: In the Community
