The rewards of five years of work were seen in the faces of Turner Valley School students Tuesday.

The schoolyard was filled with smiles and laughter as students tested out the equipment at the opening of the school's new playground.

Turner Valley School Grade Five student Rachel Hansen says she is looking forward to lots of fun times on the playground with her friends.

"I think it's really cool and we're going to have lots of fun on it," she says.

Hansen says she is grateful to everyone who contributed to the new playground.

Turner Valley School Principal James Holladay says it was a community effort in terms of volunteer hours and support for the project. He credits parent volunteer Becky Mowatt for stepping up to lead the new playground intiative from the beginning.

"When you put your mind to it, things can happen," he points out. "The support we've had from our community, the donors, it wasn't just one organization that helped out, it was multiple. Being in a small town out here in Turner Valley just to have the support of the local community, the businesses, contractors, parent volunteers who came in and helped, it just shows that as a community we can come together and make our place better."

According to Holladay, the project received just over $79,000 in funding from the Government of Alberta's Community Facility Enhancement Program, which accounted for half the total cost. There were many additional donors who also contributed various amounts to help make the playground a reality. In addition, over 80 volunteers pitched in their time to help with the construction of the new playground over three days.

Former student Sydney Libbus, who is currently in Grade 9, helped kick off the fundraising efforts with a video she helped create with her classmates when she was in Grade 6. She was back to help cut the ribbon on the playground and was one of the first to officially test out the new slide.

"I think it's amazing," Libbus explains. "We started off with a small video from a super small town and now we have three different climbing areas, a bunch of play sets, swings everywhere, it's awesome. I wish I grew up with this. If I was in Grade One right now, this would be the dream. This would be perfect."

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