THUNDER BAY -- The students at Hyde Park Public School had some superhero-sized help at their Halloween dance-a-thon Friday.
Three Thunder Bay Police Service officers dressed as Captain America, Black Widow and the Hulk from Marvel’s The Avengers attended the south-side school for the fundraiser.
The dance-a-thon was the latest effort by Hyde Park to raise money to build a new playground after a fire destroyed the school’s last play structure.
Const. Casey Vucko, who was dressed as Steve Roger’s alter ego Captain America, said when he and his fellow Avengers heard about the playground, they asked themselves what they could do to help.
“Growing up myself, I loved being on the playground. I loved playing outside at recess,” he said. “That’s a huge part of recess - the playground.”
Coming into the school out of their police uniforms was also important.
“We want to show the kids we’re real people, too. We’re just wearing a uniform and when we go home at the end of the day we’re the same people,” said Vucko.
“We’re just regular people and we want them to feel comfortable around us and if they need something, they can come to us.”
Dressed in a larger-than-life Hulk costume made by his wife, Const. Neal Soltous echoed Vucko, saying it’s important to be approachable for children.
“We want to show the kids that outside of whatever costume we wear, whether it be Halloween or our uniform, we’re just real people with real families that care about the community,” he said.
Hyde Park’s vice-principal Shannon Jessiman-MacArthur emphasized the need to build relationships with the police in the school community.
The school needs $50,000 to rebuild its playground and with the money raised from the dance-a-thon, Jessiman-MacArthur believes they have raised $5,000 so far.
“The kids need a place to play. They do their best learning when they have time to play outside and we need a playground for that to happen,” she said.
The school is also hoping to win funding through the Aviva Community Fund. People can vote for the project here.
