Golden Hills School Division has formed a working group representing the communities in East Wheatland to investigate options and solutions for area schooling.
     For a number of years schools in the communities of Hussar, Standard, Rockyford and Gleichen have been facing falling enrolments and aging infrastructure. A group of 17, comprised of Golden Hills board chair David Price and four representatives from each community will look at the information and the viability of possible solutions. The working group will not be charged with making a final decision on the future of the schools in the area.
    This is not the first time the issue has been looked at. In 2006, a stakeholder group was formed to look at solutions, facilitated by Simera Strategy Group. In  2009, the board’s capital priorities included a new centrally located school in East Wheatland.
    “There have been some changes in our school environment since then… and I think we are looking at this differently,” said Bevan Daverne, superintendent of Golden Hills School Division. “This working group, their mandate is to help our division as a kind of focus group and help us gather information so we can get a sense from parents what is the best solution from their individual perspectives.
    “If you think about what has changed in the last 10 years, if you go back in time, we all went to school where we were told to go to school. There was a local school in our area and 99 per cent of people did that. In today’s climate, and in the last 10 years we have had legislation that the provincial government has passed regarding school of choice and asserting parents should have a choice on where their kids go to school.”
    He explains today there are many more choices for families as to how their child is educated, from home school to separate divisions, online courses and distance learning.
    “I don’t think it really works for us anymore to hire a 'so called' expert who looks at our situation and says ‘clearly this is the answer and you should do this.’ And we do it, and parents continue to make choices that best suit them and their kids. We need a process that gets to that,” said Daverne. “People make choices on schools based on what is best for their family, what is best for their kids and I think there is a culture around that … in this process we are looking to build perhaps a new culture, but more importantly than where we end up in the process is how to get there and we need to have something that tells us what parents will support.”
    The group will be meeting throughout January and February to consider the information and investigate options.
    “Our hope is that through this process of investigation and feedback, some clear options will emerge that can be seen to have the potential for support of parents in all the East Wheatland communities. This will allow Golden Hills to proceed to the next planned phase of the process. At that time, by way of another public meeting (similar to those held in the fall), Golden Hills would present the best options and receive feedback prior to a decision by the board,” said a release.
    The division will keep information on the progress available on its website at www.ghsd75.ca. Contact names and numbers for the working group are available on the website. They have set up the e-mail address workinggroup@ghsd75.ca for residents to contact one or the entire group. They are also planning to send out an e-mail survey.

    The concept of the backyard skating rink may have melted away, but Drumheller resident Pat Doyle resurrected the idea a few years ago and created his own ice surface.
    The backyard rink conjures up fond memories for anyone who has skated upon a sheet of makeshift ice. But the prevalence of such rinks has diminished as time has passed.
    “As a kid I skated on sloughs and my dad and my neighbour always made a backyard rink and I’ve always been involved in hockey,” said Pat Doyle.
    “We used to do a lot in a backyard rink on 5th Street. It was a lot of fun. We used to have all the kids in the neighbourhood come over all day on Saturdays. It’s nice because it’s unorganized. Every Saturday you knew kids would be there if they weren’t playing organized hockey,” said Dave Wood, educational director for the Drumheller Dragons.
    The house Wood so fondly remembers was that of Helen and Eric Holm, who routinely built a backyard rink for everyone to enjoy. It has been years since those days and there’s a perception that the backyard rinks have been disappearing. However, Doyle worked hard to recapture the magic.
    “I’ve had a rink in the back of my house for the past five years,” said Doyle.
    Five winters ago Doyle decided to build a skating rink in his backyard. The process involves making a base of snow, watering it to a slush consistency, letting it settle and freeze, and then water to make a solid layer of ice.
    “The initial set up is the hard part, but after that it’s all gravy, It doesn’t take much to maintain once it’s up and running,” said Doyle.
    The advantages of the backyard rink are that it allows for a more relaxed skating atmosphere.
    “I’m glad we have the rink, kids are glad. We use it at night, because I have lights on it. I can get home from work, plug in the lights, and away we go. It’s fun. We’re at home, so if we get cold we can go in the house. We can make a split decision and do it,” said Doyle.
    Backyard skating rinks also provides a great environment to teach young ones, or older folks, how to skate for the first time. There are no distractions and the pressure of skating around others is not there.
    “It’s easier to teach your kid to skate, because it’s just you and your kid so you can concentrate,” said Doyle. “It’s a little bit more intimate.”
    There are, of course, community rinks scattered around the Valley, used for a casual skating.
    “They’re used quite extensively, and because of that, is there a need for people to have them in their own yards,” said Doyle. “I know the kids who are involved in hockey, they’re always at the outdoor rink.”
     “We used to have so many rinks. The community rinks that are here, it’s easy enough to set some regulations when pucks are allowed or not,” said Wood. There are currently community rinks in East Coulee, Midland, Newcastle, and Nacmine.
    The weather recently has undone some of the hard work that Doyle, or anyone else who has made their own rink, has put into their backyard.
    “Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t been cooperating. We haven’t used it since just after Christmas. The ice is really soft, so I don’t want to damage it,” said Doyle.
    Winter is not over yet. A recent cold snap will be another opportunity for the skating rinks, both community and backyard, to refreeze and be enjoyed by young and old alike.