Field of dreams
Kakisa Lake School lays sod outdoors
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 24, 2013
KA'A'GEE TU/KAKISA
By the spring, students in Kakisa will have an improved outdoor recreation area.
On Oct. 18, the three students at Kakisa Lake School helped spread soil and lay sod. They were assisting in the school's project.
"The kids have had no place to play," said Reed Smith, the school's principal who championed the project.
Until recently, the area surrounding the school has been covered in trees, brush, weeds and dirt.
"We haven't been using the area," he said.
Smith approached the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation about transforming the field. The First Nation had a similar idea for a number of years, but hadn't acted on it.
This summer, the First Nation had the brush in the area cleared, along with a number of tree stumps. Smith ordered soil and approximately 836 square metres of sod.
Staff from Carter Industries Ltd. and Eagle 88 Enterprises Ltd. of Hay River along with two RCMP officers from the Fort Providence detachment, who volunteered their time, laid the sod in a horseshoe shape around the school. The students helped because they will be the beneficiaries.
"This is opening up all kinds of possibilities for sporting activities," he said.
When the field is ready, Smith plans to use it for soccer, flag football and other activities such as discus and javelin. He'd also like to try outdoor volleyball.
Because the final details are still being worked out, Smith wouldn't comment on the total price for the project. The school is using some of the funding it received from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs' Active After School Program.
Chief Lloyd Chicot of Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation was unavailable by press time to comment on the First Nation's role in the project.
