The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

10 + WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, May 14, 2008 The children at Ecole Méreâ€"Elisaâ€" bethâ€"Bruyére don‘t have a sandbox to play in on their lunch break. There are few trees to provide shade on a sunny day. o And the soccer pitch is a muddy field. In fact, after a heavy rainfall the kids can‘t walk on it for a while. But that‘s all about to change thanks to a partnership between Evergreen, a national charity that brings nature to cities through naturalization projects, and Landscape Ontario, an association that advances horticulture. They have chosen the Waterloo French school as the site of their secâ€" ond local greening project. â€" Today, trees, large rocks and many volunteer hours will go into improving this yard, which is visible from Univerâ€" sity Avenue, for the 158 children in junâ€" ior kindergarten to Grade 6 who attend the school. "There‘s no way we would have been able to do (all this}," said Danielle Brisson, the school‘s principal. Ecole Méreâ€"Flisabethâ€"Bruyére was chosen because it‘s a needy school, said Mike Hayes, the pastâ€"president of Landscape Ontario‘s Waterloo chapter. Some schools have a lot of financial backing through their children‘s parâ€" ents, but this one bas plans it couldn‘t afford. "So we want to help out schools that really need a little extra," said Hayes, the owner of All Green Tree Service. The greening project is expected to cost between $12,000 and $15,000, which, for the most part, is being donated by volunteer labour, Landâ€" scape Ontario and its members. Twentyâ€"tree substantial trees, large rocks for kids to sit or play on and mulch will be added to the sparse yard. Two sandboxes are also in the plans. "It‘s best to keep it fairly basic and give the kids some trees for shade and areas to hang out in," Hayes said. _ _ Older school grounds, like Ecole Meéreâ€"Elisabethâ€"Bruyére‘s, are based on a 60â€"yearâ€"old industrial design, said Dennis Wendland, the Evergreen greening consultant for Waterloo Region. ‘Prior to that, they followed a miliâ€" tary model â€" a building surrounded by Tarmac that was often fenced in.. _ "It was really designed to keep kids in line," he said. "It was almost treated like a parade ground and that‘s why it Foam Store Schoolyard makeover rean,, ) I no T VdiIll JL o NEW HOURS: Mon. â€" Thurs. 8â€"6, Fri. 8â€"4 Eâ€"mail: store@customtoam.com By Jennirer OrmstON Chronicle Staff The Foam Store Danielle Brisson, the principal at Ecole Méreâ€"Elisabethâ€"Bruyere, stands in the desoâ€" late yard at her Waterloo school. It‘s going to get a makeover today thanks to Everâ€" green and Landscape Ontario. "The bell rang and the girls lined up at their door, the boys lined up at their door." was called military. The military model, dating to the end of the Second World War, is similar, although it also has a turf yard. _ Even new schools, like the Edna Staebler public school, are designed using this model. And the yards are generally geared towards physical activity, with basketball courts and socâ€" cer pitches. "It‘s runâ€"around stuff for bigâ€"muscle activity," Wendland said. â€" â€" But about 20 per cent of students are passive players who prefer quieter activities, such as reading. _ "The industrialâ€"model school ground is only designed for active kids. It‘s wideâ€"open space for soccer and running around," he said. "So these passive kids get caught in the middle and they‘re the ones that by mistake get hit in the head with a socâ€" cer ball. LIFESTYLE CUSHIONS Lets Get Koll‘n on Those Foam Projects! AND _ «> PADDING § for all your camping and » RV needs "And sometimes that even escalates and a fight ensues or bullying." Meanwhile, research shows that greenery increases social interaction and decreases bullying, Wendland said. Evergreen has studied Toronto schools over the last 15 years, and found those with green yards â€" some trees and rocks for sitting on â€" had a 42 per cent reduction in knockâ€"andâ€" bump injuries, he said. As well, civil behaviour between students, and stuâ€" dents and teachers, increased, which leads to a reduction in builying. "Basically you talk to the police and they say, ‘yeah, if an area appears to look cared for then it tends to have betâ€" ter behaviours,‘ " Wendland said, adding the opposite is also true. "When you put that in the context of a school ground ... it‘s things like bullying and things like that that increase when a school doesn‘t look like anybody cares. "It‘s sort of the perception becomes the reality." FACTORY OUTLET 360 Trillium ODr. Kitchener I1T‘S SPEZING! 519.748.1491 * Foam Mattresses & Pillows * Memory Foam Toppers * Coach, Boat, RV & Camper Cushions ANY SIZE! JENNIFER ORMSTON PHOTO Gregory Baum will be speaking at St. Jerome‘s University today starting at 7:30 p.m. in Siegfried Hall. The title of his lecture is Diversity, Religion and the Limits of Multiculturalism. Baum, professor emeritus at McGill University, asks: What precisely does multiculturalism mean? What do the new Canadians want to keep of their cultural and religious inheritance? What is their conâ€" tribution to society as a whole? How does the domiâ€" nant culture change through encounters with them? What are the structures that discriminate against the new Canadians? The important point, according to Baum, is that the discussion of multiculturalism involves more than issues of identity. It involves, above all, issues of social justice. Canada‘s preeminent theologian, Baum is the author of dozens of books on religion, culture and society. He taught social ethics and the sociology of religion at the University of St. Michael‘s College in the University of Toronto and McGill University. In 2006, Novalis Publishing released the second edition of his 1975 classic Religion and Alienation. Siegfried Hall is located at St. Jerome‘s University at the University of Waterloo. The event is open to the public. Everyone is welcome. Free is parking. The Kitchener Waterloo Cambridge Regional Post Card Club meets again today at Doon Heritage Crossroads in the Hall of Fame building at 7:30 p.m. The club president, David Moore, will draw upon his many years of collecting and his extensive colâ€" lection to present From the Sublime to the Ridicuâ€" lous. Over the years, postcards have been made of everything from metal to leather, glass to birch bark, mica to silk, and they‘ve been made in every possiâ€" ble shape, including threeâ€"dimensional. This presâ€" entation will feature all kinds of bizarre postcards. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. For information, contact the club secretary at rychâ€" mills@golden.net or 519â€"742â€"4990. today. The leisurely hike will introduce people to local plants and animals that live within the forests, fields and wetlands. It begins at 2 p.m. It is free with park admission: adults are $4.25, children (six to 14 years old) are $2.50, and children five and under are free. For more information, call 519â€"621â€"2763, ext. 2302. naturalist will guide the public through habitats of Laurel Creek Conservation Area, in Waterloo, Postcard club meeting Diversity talk at UW Spring hike today New Foam Cushions "to size" Memory Foam Mattresses, ___ Toppers & Pillows