The Delia School Enhancement Society has kicked off their campaign to raise $1.2 million in funds to improve the new school planned for the community.
In March of this year, Alberta Education had approved the construction of a K-12 school in Delia because the community’s existing school was in need of structural repair to the point where the cost of repair would be so high that a replacement was the fiscally obvious choice. Typically, Alberta Education approves a prototype of school build based on the school’s enrollment numbers. But the people of Delia saw the opportunity of having a new school was ‘once in a lifetime’ for the little community school with an enrollment of 150 students, so they approached the school division to see about how they could enhance it.
The Delia School Enhancement Society (DSES) has created a funding plan to raise over $1 million to make the school a ‘community hub.’ A community-wide value management assessment was done and found three key areas to improve at the school. One is to commit $120,000 to retain a ‘brick and mortar’ in-school library space which will also house the Delia municipal library which will either retain or exceed the existing library’s size. Secondly, a $450,000 multi-purpose learning space for both teachers and the community which will be optimized to be used as a classroom, drama, music, art, and fitness area. Expanding capacity in athletics was also identified, and $630,000 will be used to upgrade the provincial regulation courts into a bigger space which can be used by both the school and by the community for extra-curricular/community events after school hours.
DSES President Amber Marshall says the community sees this as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to create a community hub essential to the village’s future.
“Delia has a very tight knit community. There’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm here, because this is our school and it’s about the sustainability of our community into the future,” she says. “The school really is the hub of the community. When people drop their kids at school they go to the bank, they go to Luke’s, they go to the post office. We have a lot of recreational programs and to tie that together and give all those groups an umbrella to go to meet is an incredible thing for our community.”
While raising $1.2 million may be a daunting task, DSES has a 2-year fundraising program which will be brought to Prairie Land School Division at the end of August. Sixty-eight per cent of the funds are expected to come from the‘Make Your Mark’ campaign which will offer individuals and corporations the ability to name the individual rooms in the school at a predetermined cost. Grant and funding opportunities, community fundraising, and an agriculture for education campaign are expected to make up the rest of the funds. The Village of Delia has already committed $100,000 over five years to the cause.
Marshall says the ideas came from the group of over 40 community members who frequently attend meetings.
“We went from nothing to a well-oiled machine.”
Prairie Land School Division superintendent Cam McKeage says the division is fully behind the project.
“The way that schools are funded in Alberta is they are funded at the basic educational level. That may work in bigger centres where there are other facilities where people can go to access services. But in a small community, the school is usually the hub. To enhance the way of life of a small community, and also basic education, you have to go above and beyond what Alberta Education has granted you.”
Construction of the new school is expected to break ground next year and is expected to be completed within a year from that time, McKeage says.
