Play school a family affair
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 06/01) - It is amazing what a little co-operative effort can produce.
For almost a quarter century, the Yellowknife Playschool has been a place where pre-schoolers have met, socialized, learned and (more than anything else) played.
The school has been run by successive associations composed of parents of the children it serves. Board members have shared a tendency toward the frugal in their management of the school.
John Dalton was one of the early parent volunteers.
"We couldn't afford janitors, so we'd come in and clean it ourselves."
And they did keep the price down. Three half-day classes three days a week for the school year cost $45 in 1978-79.
That was the school's second year. The school had been started on a trial basis by a group of parents on the heft of a $200 grant from the city and space in City Hall, which included a safe that was used as a play room.
Over the summer of 1978, the school was packed up and moved to a portable on the grounds of St. Patrick High School.
That year the parents went out hunting for a permanent teacher. The overwhelming response to try to make a go of the play school coincided with the return of Toni Auge, then Toni Harker.
Auge had lived here for seven years and had just returned from two years in her native New Zealand.
"I walked into the old Bay. The checkout people said, 'Hello, how have you been?' as if I'd never left," recalled Auge. At the post office she asked if there was any general delivery mail for her. The postal worker asked Auge why she wasn't using her regular post box.
During her previous stay, Auge had been a teacher at Mildred Hall, and taught the first kindergarten class that used the teepee addition.
Auge had a pre-schooler of her own, Jordan, and wanted to spend time with him. But she was reminded that the job would not remain open forever, that whoever took the it would likely have it for a long time.
Auge considered the logic, agreed to an interview and won the job. Now a kindergarten teacher at Range Lake North School, Auge counts among her students, Ian Wolfe, the son of one of her play school students, Brett.
Sense of satisfaction
"Every time I drive by it, it gives me a little satisfaction knowing what we helped start is still going," said Al Falconer, one of the early parent volunteers.
Falconer said he is impressed by the expansion of the school since his day. The latest expansion was officially opened on the weekend. With annual enrollment of 64, the school now gives little hint of its humble beginnings.
Auge's second year marked the beginning of yet another move, this time to a permanent home. Parents redoubled their ongoing efforts on bake sales, craft sales and other fund-raisers that were always necessary to the school's existence.
"We scrounged and it worked," said Auge.
"In a way it was a lean, mean operation," said Falconer. "We were basically covering staff salaries at quasi-minimum wage. Parents would volunteer to be teacher's assistants.
"It was challenging. We had a year-to-year existence and it was a lot of work. We decided that the only way to keep it going was to get a permanent home."
The fund-raising was given a boost when children's performer Raffi answered the call and flew up to give two concerts.
Almost enough money was set aside to put a down payment on a 56th Street property. One of the parents agreed to loan the $5,000 they were short.
Then no bank would give them a mortgage, though they said the group could assume an existing mortgage. Albert Eggenberger made the deal happen by taking out a mortgage and allowing the association to assume it.
Putting the deal together was only half the battle. The building still had to be transformed into a classroom.
"I remember when the building was bought and going in there and tearing down walls and scrounging lumber," said Dalton. "We knocked out the centre wall to make a large play area. We knocked out closets to set up activity rooms."
The play's the thing
The school was started to fill what some saw as a void in the community. Parents who started the school wanted a place that was a little more structured than Moms and Tots and a little less structured than Montessori. The play school's emphasis was and is play.
"What kind of program did we have? A stimulating one I hoped," said Auge. "Books were a big part of the program. Encouraging these kids to read as early as three didn't strike me as odd."
There were also entertainers, including Mr. Dressup himself, field trips to the fire hall, library, grocery store and pet store, events such as a circus, Halloween and Christmas celebrations, and school participation in community events like Caribou Carnival.
"It's a cool little age group," said Auge. "That's why I haven't graduated past kindergarten."
"Sometimes it was hard to get them out of there, because it was a fun and enjoyable place," Dalton said. Even if it wasn't always reflected in the pay, Dalton said the teacher's role was paramount to the success of the school.
"It was important to have qualified people, otherwise you have is 20 kids in the room playing," he said.
Play is half the purpose of the school. The other half is preparing students for entry into the school system, a transition Dalton said was easier for his three children for their time at the playschool.
Falconer noted that a number of playschool graduates, his daughter Melody and Brett Wolfe among them, went on to earn degrees and returned to establish themselves as professionals in the community.
