Photo: Peace Wapiti Public School Division

By Abby Zieverink

Community

Playschool & Grade 1 students receive warm welcome back to Whispering Ridge School

Jan 17, 2022 | 5:27 PM

Playschool and Grade 1 students and staff at Whispering Ridge Community School were welcomed back with open arms Monday morning after a lengthy stay at the Grande Prairie Alliance Church.

Both the Playschool and Grade 1 students had been learning out of the Grande Prairie Alliance Church since April 2021, following a fire that destroyed two modular classrooms and damaged three more.

Assistant Principal Abby Stillwell says there has been a lot of buildup getting the students and staff back to their school.

“We had some awesome staff members take the lead too on making banners, and having people welcome the kids back.”

Stillwell tells EverythingGP the student’s last day being taught at the church was Friday and mentions they got an extra-special farewell.

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“The church did such a nice farewell to them, they had a banner and a sign and they even had their staff members stand outside and say goodbye as the kids loaded the bus the final time to come back to the school, so it was really special.”

Photo: Whispering Ridge Community School

Stillwell says it was challenging having students at Whispering Ridge Community School split between two different places for nearly a year.

“Our principal Mr. O’Shea has put in lots and lots of extra hours making sure everyone was supported and working through the whole process of working with the restoration company and with everyone to get things put back together,” she added.

“This year was really challenging too. Having them in two separate places, constantly driving, sometimes running back and forth between the two locations just to make sure the teachers and students were supported.”

Stillwell expresses gratitude for everyone who put out a helping hand over the past year.

She says none of this would have been possible without the extended support from community members. Stillwell specifically mentioned the bus drivers as well as the businesses and groups who helped get their modular classrooms back up and running for the reason they were able to pull this off.

“We are all so happy to be back together. Our Playschool and Grade 1 staff are phenomenal,” explained Stillwell. “Through all this and all of its challenges, they have remained really, really positive, and we just cannot thank them enough.”

The modular classrooms are nearly a carbon copy of what the school had before, three modular classrooms were refurbished following the fire damage, while the two classrooms destroyed were replaced with brand new modular classrooms.