2013
CCNA BLUE RIBBON Your Weekly Clover Valley Newspaper Why we’re blue, Page 3
Joe gets Wired, Page 8
May 30, 2013 ❖ www.CloverdaleReporter.com ❖ 604-575-2405
Housing boom, playground squeeze West Cloverdale school eyes ‘community playground’ project
our neighbourhood grew a lot faster By Jennifer Lang than the original play structure can A Cloverdale school that was the hold,” says Tammy Firth, a memsite of an eight-classroom addition ber of the school’s Parent Advisory two years ago is now looking to exCouncil and co-chair of the playpand its playground, an amenity ground committee. The kids, she for both the school – and the neighsays, play in shifts. bourhood around it. “There’s one play time for the A.J. McLellan Elementary opened little kids in the primary grades and 10 years ago, and its another for the big kids,” student population has Firth days. boomed along with new “Even still, they have residential growth in “There’s one to take turns.” west Cloverdale. playground for the After school and on Initially built to acweekends, the playcommodate far fewer little kids... and ground and school field students, the elementary another for the big function as a community school is now home to playground and greens500 students – including kids.” pace. four, all-day kindergarten “Everybody uses it. classes. - Tammy Firth, parent Thousands of families. That’s put pressure on Soccer teams play socthe school’s playground cer on our field, so it’s equipment, which has used all year round,” says Firth, who already undergone two upgrades in points out daycares, churches and order to keep pace, and now plays day camps make use of the outdoor host to staggered playtimes to accommodate everyone. See SCHOOL / Page 7 “Our school grew a lot faster and
JENNIFER LANG PHOTO
A few A.J. McLellan Elementary students crowd onto the slide at their school, with realtor Scott Moe, left, and Parent Advisory Council president Lisa Reid, who are part of a fundraising campaign for a bigger playground.
Lacing up for diabetes walk
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Caitlin MacDonald is joining the Walk to Cure Diabetes.
By Jennifer Lang Having type I diabetes hasn’t stopped Caitlin MacDonald from doing anything she’s set out to accomplish – whether it’s winning a blueberry pie eating contest, playing high school lacrosse, rugby and soccer, or devising clever ways to help spread her awareness message. Last year, she completed an updated version of How to Survive High School with Type I Diabetes, a pamphlet she wrote offering sensible, real-life advice to School District 36 students making the transition to high school. She also mounted a month-long campaign in November, Diabetes Awareness Month, launching a YouTube channel called Diabetic Dreams, and donned the colour blue to quiz people about diabetes.
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The busy university student – she’ll begin kinesiology studies at UFV this fall – and Clayton Heights Secondary grad remains a passionate crusader, spreading awareness and information on behalf of teens with the autoimmune disease, also known as Juvenile Diabetes. The disorder attacks beta cells in the pancreas, preventing the production of insulin, which converts sugar into energy in the body. Type I diabetics like MacDonald, who was diagnosed at 11, rely on insulin injections or insulin pumps instead. But since diabetics appear healthy, others may not realize how serious a condition it is. Complications can include blindness, nerve problems and even amputations and death if people don’t take proper care of themselves.
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The good news is, it’s possible to live a healthy, active life with diabetes if it’s managed properly, she says. Still, it’s not always so straight forward when you’re a kid; a teacher once refused to let MacDonald back inside school so she could retrieve a bottle of juice from her locker when her blood sugar was dangerously low. Another teacher, mistaking an insulin pump for a cell phone, kicked her out of class. With stories like those, it’s easy to understand why she’s determined to spread awareness and do what she can to find a cure. Now that she’s wrapped up her latest semester at school she plans to continue advocating and volunteering for the Juve-
See HOPING / Page 3
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