The Sundre High School Leadership class wasted no time launching a variety of initiatives.
Students from grades 10-12 split into several groups to organize the following: making Build-a-Bears for children with cancer; putting together care packages for sick kids enduring an extended stay in hospital; raising funds for two staff members whose families have been impacted by cancer; an after school computer science club; the annual Halloween haunted house; a fundraiser for the Wild Horses of Alberta Society; and a drive to collect donations for the Mountain View Food Bank.
“I am thrilled with the variety of projects students are currently working on,” said teacher Ryan Beck.
“This course provides a unique opportunity for me to get to know some of their drives and personalities. As they progress through the semester, students learn many important soft skills like how to sell their ideas, make cold calls, organize a team and persevere through setbacks to achieve their goals.”
The leadership class is a project-based learning course that gives students a chance to pursue initiatives based on their interests and passions, with the requisite being that the program of choice needs to help people or causes in our school, community or world, said Beck.
As of last week, the group supporting local families impacted by cancer raised about $3,000, he said.
The teacher expressed gratitude for the opportunity to assist the students in their efforts to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
“They experience tremendous growth during the semester and we hope the joy they feel from successfully promoting their causes and helping others will empower these students to continue to serve their community, and humanity, in the future.”
Build-a-Bears
Grade 10 students Ali Pedersen, Meg Talbot, Serena Werezak, Kyonna Sawyer, and Grade 12 student Cody Ogden wanted to offer some comfort to sick kids in hospital.
Not every child has family that can always be at their side, so providing a teddy bear not only boosts their spirits by giving them something to hold onto but also reminds them they are not alone, said Pedersen.
“We just wanted to give them a teddy bear to cuddle when they’re not feeling good,” said Talbot.
The group has done some fundraising and is also pursuing potential sponsorships. Anyone who is interested in supporting their effort, as well as any of the others, can contact the school at 403-638-4000.
Care packages
Grade 11 students Megan Moore, Jade Wilde, Madison Anderson and Emily Leussink also wanted to alleviate the arduous experience children go through when convalescing during an extended stay in hospital.
So the group decided to work towards putting together care packages that will be sent to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre for children recovering from receiving care for conditions such as, but not limited to, cancer, said Moore.
“We’re asking for people to donate the supplies we need,” she said.
The goal is to fill up 15 shoeboxes with a variety of items such as stickers and colouring books to socks and mittens, she said, adding donations must be clean and unused.
Their goal is to create boxes that will cater to different age categories from infants on up at the hospital’s pediatric unit, said Wilde. The students hope to send the packages off before the Christmas break.
Local cancer support
Grade 10 students Darci Millard and Hope Smith teamed up to rally support for two school staff members whose families have been impacted by cancer, and designed a hoodie to raise funds.
“We saw that they were doing a GoFundMe page, so we were just thinking of something to do to help out,” said Millard.
Although the deadline has already passed to purchase the custom hoodies, which features Fight With Carter in bold lettering, she said additional donations are welcome any time.
Computer science club
Grade 10 students Eli Waters, Jeff Sarty and Taylor Schepella decided to start an after-school computer science club at the Sundre Municipal Library to offer an opportunity for classmates with an affinity to learn more about information technology.
“There’s not exactly a computer science course,” said Sarty.
“We have biology and physics and chem, but we don’t have any computer science.”
Considering how quickly that industry is growing and how many jobs in science today relate heavily to using computers, they decided making the option available is important, he said.
“We essentially just want to give people an outlet to look into what sort of careers they might want to pursue in the future,” he said.
Provided there is enough interest, they hope to continue with the club beyond the semester, he said.
“We want to keep this going.”
Their approach is more informal, with less of a focus on a rigidly structured course and a greater emphasis on gathering people with a shared interest in computer science to share points of views and shape the club’s focus and direction, he said.
Halloween haunted house
Grade 10 students Julie McPhee and Melissa Martinez are among a larger group of eight organizers, plus additional volunteers, who chose to help prepare this year’s haunted house for Halloween.
Having checked out the haunted house last year, McPhee said the activity looked like a lot of fun. And since she also wanted to be more engaged in extracurricular school events, she decided to get involved.
“We’re going to have a lot of clowns this year,” she said, adding that while the theme will feature spooky clowns, they won’t be quite as hardcore as the type famously depicted in Stephen King's IT.
The haunted house takes place Halloween night from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Sundre High School in Beck’s classroom, which people can reach by entering through the secondary doors.
The student organizers expressed their appreciation to local businesses that supported the haunted house by donating materials.
Wild horses
Izak Brackley, Grade 11, is among a group of four students who love horses and wanted to raise funds for the Wild Horses of Alberta Society by organizing a movie night.
“They are an amazing organization doing amazing work in our community,” he said.
Free-roaming horses are an iconic part of Sundre, and the students felt compelled to take a stand for something that is so important to so many people in the area, he said.
“We all have huge hearts and love to participate in any events involving leadership,” he added.
Although their movie night did not go as well as expected with only about 15 people attending, the group has collectively kept their chins up, he said.
“We are planning another movie night soon and hope to get the word out more and have some success for our fantastic horses in need.”
Food bank drive
Alyssa Feil, Grade 10, who got involved in the initiative to gather donations for the Mountain View Food Bank, said some members of the group had previous experience helping out at other food banks.
“From this, we have gained a gripping passion to help those in need,” said Feil.
Little by little, she said small efforts can lead to big change in the community, and the group has been getting prepared for food collection drives among the school's classes, with dates set from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2.
“Our hope is that every student from each class will donate at least one non-perishable food item,” she said.
“The class who collects the greatest number of non-perishable food items will be rewarded with a box of doughnuts for their efforts and contribution to our community.”
