Work on building the new Gibsons Elementary School has officially begun, and it was marked May 3 with a ceremonial sod turning.
Dignitaries and members of School District No. 46 (SD46) spoke to a sea of students sporting yellow hard hats as well as many community members gathered for the big day last Friday afternoon.
"I can't help but start by saying that this is one of the most exciting days of my life," said school board chair Silas White. "I think that a lot of us feel that way at the board of education and School District No. 46. It is only to be surpassed one day very soon when the doors of this new building will open for our children's first day in our new school."
White said the build has been on the SD46 and the Ministry of Education's books for several years, but it took a push at the local level to make it a reality.
"At the local level, the turning point for this project was the day our board decided that Gibsons Elementary needed to be our superintendent's top priority," White said. "Constructing a new school may have been a bit outside her comfort level or experience as an educator rather than an architect or a construction manager, but Deborah Luporini [who was the superintendent of schools at the time] took on this task with dedication and zeal and in fact got so into it that the next thing we knew, she was determined to be the principal of this new school. She has played the lead role in ensuring this building will reflect and support the kids and community here from the ground up and on through into the first crucial years of breaking it in."
The new school will include a Neighbourhood of Learning component, which boasts a large childcare facility, a community kitchen and a community garden.
Pamela Ruth spoke at the event on behalf of the parents' advisory committee, thanking SD46 for listening to parent concerns when designing the new school.
"Our input and opinions were taken into account. We were listened to," she said pointing to the extra parking, large classrooms, auditorium and stage in the new building, which were on the wish list for parents. "We didn't just want a big box for our students to sit in and learn, and we knew that our principal, Mrs. Luporini, was of the same mind."
Luporini thanked all in attendance for their support to make the build a reality.
"From the first moment that the decision was made to make this new school happen, we were surrounded by visionary people who donated their time, talents, experience and ideas to create the best possible school for the community of Gibsons," she said.
The two youngest students at the school, Diamond Wells-McDonell and Kate Tierney, then took the mike to let everyone know what kids in their class thought were the most important aspects of the new school.
Among those on the list were a hallway with a new glass wall, new school colours, a new play area, a new office with the "old Jackie" and how "cool" the new school would be.
Find out more about the rebuild on the SD46 website at www.sd46.bc.ca under the News and Updates tab.
