By Tiffany Williams
Editor
The 12th annual Ponoka Outreach School Perogy Dinner and Open House will be held June 4 at the school to raise money for the school’s scholarship fund.
This year there will be 35 Outreach grads ages 18 to some in their 50s. Many different scholarships will be handed out at their graduation ceremony, including sponsored ones, on June 16 at the Kinsmen Centre.
The pancake breakfast in the fall and the perogy dinner support the school’s scholarship fund. Last year the school handed out three scholarships worth $400 and each year they aim to hand out two or three. To receive the funds the students have to come back to the school and show them that they are enrolled in a program.
Lawrence Hyrcan, principal of the Ponoka Outreach School says the process and deliver style is different at the Outreach and not all students learn in the traditional classroom manner. During the open house staff and parents will be on hand to answer questions about the school. All of the schools courses are taught by modules and based around the student’s schedules.
“We have students who are models, WHL hockey players, rodeo athletes and actors or actresses. They can’t come everyday and a traditional school does not work for them,” said Hycran. “We are achievement based and not attendance based. The real key is the flexibility of the program. “
Outreach teacher Scott Lewis thinks that it is important to build relationships with the community.
“We are trying to make connections with the community. We are really trying to build the school as a community school,” said Lewis.
He says that the doors are always open to the community and the lunch is a good way to show people how the school is run.
“There has always been something special about sitting down and breaking bread with someone. At the end of the day it is a lot of fun and it all goes back to the scholarship fund for the kids.”