Friends of Iron Ridge Junior Campus (FIRCS) won this year’s Friends of Education Award and while the Ponoka Youth Centre (PYC), nominated by Ponoka Elementary School principal Lois Spate, didn’t receive the award, the Wolf Creek Public Schools board of trustees is encouraging for them to be nominated again next year.
Lacombe trustee Bob Huff was the first to move to nominate FIRCS as the winner, with trustee Donna Peterson following in agreement.
“My reason for that is the extensive content that is in here, what that group has done for the students in Blackfalds,” said Huff. “They raise money, they’ve created a society status and their whole society status has been geared to how could they use their money to better help the students.”
“Their whole purpose, as we can see from what’s here, has been to ‘how can we better help the students’,” he added.
FIRCS was behind the school’s sound system, their folding chairs, iPads and Chromebooks, and helping to fund the school’s playground, among other projects.
Ponoka trustee Lorrie Jess liked the youth centre for the award and in the end it came down to FIRCS’s seniority. “There’s no doubt that they’re all deserving, but I would support the motion of Iron Ridge because they’ve been doing this for about 10 years,” said Peterson.
Alix MAC also nominated Dustin Rider but the board decided to overlook him for this year. “Dustin Rider is a fine individual, but he has been recognized provincially two or three times with different things. And the Ponoka one is newer, too,” said Peterson.