Grade 7 students reinvent new Kitchener suburb for class project

As Canada faces a housing crisis, grade 7 students in Kitchener have some ideas about how to tackle it.

Two classes at Groh Public School are planning alternate versions of a new suburb being built right by their school.

The students have some immediate things they’d like changed in their Doon South neighbourhood.

“The park that’s nearby here, it’s not really good anymore,” said grade 7 student Krish Patel.

“The boring parks in this neighbourhood – I’m not a big fan of, so I wanted to make something special and a wow factor basically,” said Tatiana Voros, another grade 7 student.

She’s given her suburb plan a signature piece for that reason.

“We’ve got a piano floor [at the park] and basically when kids would walk on different notes, it would play different music,” she said, showing her creation.

Grade 7 students at Groh Public School plan a new Kitchener suburb. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV Kitchener)

Teachers Jennifer Schaefer and Jessica Neilson are impressed by what their students have accomplished.

“So they’ve been 3D printing, they’ve been coding, we have groups that have been able to light up their parks, make music,” said Neilson.

The project does go beyond community spaces, which does make it trickier.

“The biggest challenge is the idea that we’ve been talking a lot about – meeting the needs of a growing population. And the affordability factor, we’re talking about the housing crisis,” Schaefer said.

Students have been working with real-life constraints like cost, needs, the environment and affordability. They’ve been learning from developers, planners and architects at Activa, which is the builder behind the new suburb.

“I’ve learned a lot about affordability facts. Like how big of an issue it is to afford housing. Many people can’t afford it, they have to rent,” said grade 7 student Diya Sumesh.

Grade 7 students at Groh Public School plan a new Kitchener suburb. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV Kitchener)

So how have they kept their projects cost effective?

“We use many eco-friendly materials. They don’t require lot of energy of much water use and they’re really efficient and good for the environment,” said Sumesh.

It seems as though Activa is impressed with what they’ve seen from the students.

“We found when we had our talk on sustainability, the kids are really in tune with it. I think there’s definitely ideas that could be born into Activa ideas,” said CAO Geoff McMurdo.

It’s the students’ outside-the-box thinking that could truly change the developer’s building habits – a true sign of Groh students helping their community grow for the future.