Lord Dufferin Jr. &Sr. P.S. Multipurpose Sports Centre

PB2024 - Lord Dufferin Jr. &Sr. P.S. Multipurpose Sports Centre

This idea proposes to reimagine the athletic field of Lord Dufferin Jr. Sr. P.S to include a new Basketball Court Professional Grade 50 x 42, Baseball Field Chain Fence Commercial Grade, Baseball Clay Field, Digital Sports Board, Bleachers, Soccer Field/Multipurpose sports fields, Soccer Field Goal, Art/Mural Installation, Led Stadium Lighting, Planters, Fence Replacement, Commercial Turf Grass, and Indigenous Food and Medicine Garden. 

The partial funding amount contributed to this project will cost $500,000 with conditions for Lord Dufferin Jr. Sr. P.S to enter into a Community Access Agreement for public use outside of school hours.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) will be responsible for undertaking the construction, including materials and labour. Complications may apply.

Internal ID: PB2024-PFR-526

*Note: Ideas that proceed to the voting stage are edited by my office to ensure they are clear, concise, and complete with images. For accountability and transparency purposes, the original description, as input by the resident, can be found below.

Original Description:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Urban multipurpose sports field will provide our students at Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School with the opportunity to practice and develop social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills. Providing enough optional sports for students to be engaged is accessible, equitable and inclusive thus a cornerstone of sustainable school community planning. Why it matters: Safe, green, healthy, and student-friendly urban environments are key to the physical and mental health of our younger demographic groups. The problem: Urban environments that do not cater equally to the needs of all demographic groups are unsafe and unattractive for youth and children. This proposed solution to re-develop, take a transformative approach in urban governance and spatial planning at Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School outdoor multipurpose sports field build’s a space that reflects the needs of the students and community. Our students and other community stakeholders will be involved in the participatory urban planning for a re-developed outdoor multipurpose sports field. We believe that student voice provides numerous social and environmental benefits in the participatory urban planning, since their views and opinions contribute to building amazing school culture and communities.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Revitalization of Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School Outdoor Multi-Purpose Facility- We are interested in working with your office to identify funding partners and possible artists to revitalize our outdoor space with a new basketball court, soccer field and baseball field. The school serves over 539 students, representing over 30 language groups. Sixty eight percent of the population has English as their second language (ESL). Most of these students are of Bengali, Tamil, Somali, Asian and South Asian descent. Lord Dufferin is a composite school with primary, junior and senior divisions. Our school prioritizes the following demographics to support student success. Our school’s foundation is based on our diversity, equity and inclusiveness.

○ Youth who face socio-economic barriers

○ Black youth

○ First Nations, Inuit and Metis youth

○ Newcomers/Refugee youth

○ Girl-identified youth (in the case of gender-specific programming)

○ 2SLGBTQ+ Identified youth

○ Youth who identify as having a disability- intellectual or physical

VISION

Our school work’s to unify students at Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School by supporting safe, equitable, inclusive sport programming. Our school culture is designed to remove access barriers and create healthy opportunities for our school community.

MISSION

The mission is our school community in partnership with the corporate and other community leaders we wish to renovate Lord Dufferin’s outdoor space and refresh our basketball courts, soccer, baseball field and install large scale works of site-specific art on the surface celebrating the diversity of our school.

 MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, AND SOCIAL HEALTH BENEFITS IN SPORTS

The benefits of sport support’s children’s mental health, physical, social health and wellness. Organized, well-structured youth sports and on-going physical activities at Lord Dufferin can provide many benefits for children and youth. Positive experiences that sport and an active lifestyle bring play an important role in a young person’s life.

 Many athletes do better academically

Playing a sport requires a lot of time and energy. Some people may think this would distract student-athletes from schoolwork. However, the opposite is true. Sports require memorization, repetition and learning — skillsets that are directly relevant to class work. Also, the determination and goal-setting skills a sport requires can be transferred to the classroom.

Sports teach teamwork and problem-solving skills

Fighting for a common goal with a group of players and coaches teaches you how to build teamwork and effectively communicate to solve problems. This experience is helpful when encountering problems at school or at home.

Physical health benefits of sports

Sports can help you reach your fitness goals and maintain a healthy weight. However, they also encourage healthy decision-making such as eating well.

Sports boost self-esteem

Watching your hard work pay off and achieving your goals develops self-confidence. Achieving a sport or fitness goal encourages you to achieve other goals you set. This is a rewarding and exciting learning process.

Reduce pressure and stress with sports

Exercising is a natural way to loosen up and let go of stress. You can also make new friends who can be there for you as a support system. When you feel under pressure or stressed, call up a teammate, head to the gym to talk and play it out.

BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER

Lord Dufferin’s ambitious plan to build a new multi-purpose outdoor field will meet the current, future and increasingly diverse needs of our students, residents and community stakeholders for decades to come. The following amenities, all of which are deliberately planned and designed to support a greater diversity of sports and physical activities in the community.

BEAUTIFICATION

Building a new multi-purpose outdoor field is part of the beautification process of making visual improvements to our school but also within the community.

INDIGENOUS FOOD AND MEDCINE GARDEN VISION

The Indigenous Food and Medicine Garden is an outdoor space that fosters a welcoming and inclusive community on-campus and promotes Indigenous presence, Indigenous Knowledge exchanges, and community involvement while engaging peoples in growing Indigenous organic and sustainable foods and plants for future generations.

INDIGENOUS FOOD AND MEDCINE GARDEN VISION GOALS

The Indigenous Food and Medicine Garden aims to:

Promote agricultural practices and teachings of Indigenous peoples of the local region.Provide experiential educational opportunities for community members, students and staff with respect to Indigenous worldview and customary planting, growing and harvesting techniques.

Offer a welcoming green space on campus that engages communities in hands on learning of Indigenous Knowledge.

Course development around customary Indigenous planting techniques.

Give students, staff and community members the opportunity to grow their own food and medicines.

Grow Medicinal plants for community members to use

Grow vegetables such as corn, beans and squash to be used for an annual feasts and gatherings.

Share Indigenous Knowledge and develop academic partnerships on and off-campus.

MULTIPURPOSE SPORTS FIELD

Basketball Court Professional Grade 50 x 42

Baseball Field Chain Fence Commercial Grade

Baseball Clay Field

Digital Sports Board

Bleachers

Soccer Field/Multipurpose sports fields

Soccer Field Goal

Art/Mural Installation

Led Stadium Lighting

Planters

Fence Replacement

Commercial Turf Grass

Indigenous Food and Medicine Garden

Conclusion

When you think back to your favourite childhood play experiences, chances are they took place outdoors, unsupervised and while hanging out with friends. But today’s kids spend far less time playing than their parents did. We don't necessarily need to travel far to enjoy outdoor space. Our students at Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School can connect with our multipurpose outdoor school playground. This modern facility will provide an inviting, engaging and safe space for all our students, families and community to enjoy.

(This Idea was submitted by parents and students of Lord Dufferin Jr. & Sr. P.S. and migrated from Proposals)