Three Summerland Secondary School students are helping to make their town a better place. Coulson Boothe, Bowen Matheson, and Anthony Causton, all students in the school’s Civics 11 class, have been working to improve the condition of the existing skate park.

Before their efforts, the park was in shambles – offensive graffiti was sprayed all over the park, railings were torn down, and the park was fast becoming an eyesore.

However, these students decided to make a difference and make the park a great place for teen to hang out without it being a junkyard.

Also, they wished to bring public awareness to the fact that the current park is good, but could definitely be improved upon.

“The park has always been a popular hang-out for us, but due to the way kids are, some felt the need to deface it and create a negative association with the park. We’re looking to change that – perhaps if it is known that students put time and effort into maintaining the park, it might be treated better,” said Boothe.

Integral to the process were David Stathers, the Civics teacher at Summerland Secondary School, as well as Parks and Recreation Director Dale MacDonald.

After researching possible options, the three teens decided that their original goal of building a brand-new park was an impossibility in a couple short months, so they decided to make the current park clean and easy-to-use.

At times, things were so bad that, to quote a regular user, Chris Emmons, “I’d have to use my own broom to sweep stuff away so I could board 10 feet…”

After outlining a clear goal to clean up and repaint the park, the teens went to MacDonald.

With MacDonald’s permission, the three went out to the park, swept it out, painted over the entirety of the park (save for the asphalt), and cleaned it out of trash.

“Overall, I think the project was a great success. Though it was a little downsized from our original idea of building a brand-new park somewhere else in town, we think that what we’ve done here will help broaden awareness of the positive side of a skate park and of its importance to the community,” said Boothe.