River Elm helps students get the word out

A new addition to River Elm School’s playground is a conversation starter.  

On Oct. 25, two playground communication boards were installed at the elementary school. The weather-proof boards feature images, symbols and words to help students with communication differences interact with their peers on the playground. 

“It’s a way for our students to communicate their wants and needs,” said Kamila Strutinsky, a WSD speech-language pathologist. 

“There are students in the division that aren’t able to use spoken words. They use gestures or visuals and symbols to communicate their wants and needs, to ask questions, and to communicate their feelings.”

One board is located in River Elm’s main playground, another in the school’s courtyard.  

In May of 2023, Strutinsky and fellow WSD speech-language pathologist Deanna Barsy attended a conference that convinced them there was a need for augmentative and alternative communication tools outside of the classroom. 

Strutinsky and Barsy then applied for a grant from The Winnipeg Foundation, which they received. In addition to River Elm, the grant funded playground communication boards at Wolseley and Meadows West schools. 

Each board costs $4,533. The boards were built and installed by Playgrounds-R-Us.

Champlain, Prairie Rose, Shaughnessy and Wellington schools have also recently installed playground communication boards. 

“Going forward we hope this is the standard for WSD playgrounds,” Barsy said. 

Strutinsky and Barsy designed the boards, consulting with other Clinical Support Services workers in WSD. The playground boards are similar to the core word boards and handouts located inside classrooms. 

“We did change some of the core words though. For example, we probably wouldn’t need ‘Sleep’ outside,” Barsy said. “But we still wanted to keep things quite consistent. You’ll notice ‘I’ is always in the top left corner.”

It’s not only speech-impaired and non-speaking students who are benefiting from the communication boards. 

“It’s also good for EAL (English as an Additional Language) students,” Strutinsky said. “The wider community is also benefitting because families use the playgrounds after school hours. 

“Things like this are essential for some, but good for all,” Barsy added. 

River Elm principal Marla Tran said she’s grateful to Strutinksy and Barsy for taking the lead on the playground communication boards project. 

“It’s something we didn’t know we needed, but now that we have it, we can see how much we needed it,” Tran said.

“It gives every student the chance to be able to communicate with their peers more effectively and it puts everyone on more of a level playing field.”