Herons Crossing School's council is hoping the rest of Airdrie will have their back as they elicit votes in a nationwide contest that could net them $20,000 to support students.
The school council for Herons Crossing, a K-8 school in northwest Airdrie, has entered to win $20,000 through KidoodlED's $1 million giveaway. Through the contest, the five schools across Canada with the most votes will receive $20,000 each, while remaining schools from the top 100 will be eligible to receive $10,000 each.
Elise Andrews, the parent of multiple Herons Crossing School students and chair of the school council, said there are many expenses the prize money could go toward if the Airdrie school is among the top five winners. Specifically, she highlighted phys-ed equipment and technology.
According to Andrews, Herons Crossing is one of Airdrie's most overcrowded schools, as it's currently operating at an approximately 110 per cent utilization rate. With overflowing classrooms, she said there's a shortage of everything from sports equipment to computers for students.
“Once you’re in Grade 5 and up, a lot of the curriculum is online,” she explained. “The kids are using [computers and tablets] for coding, they’re using it to type out their reports instead of writing on paper. Basically, it’s about preparing them for high school because in high school, basically all you use is laptops. And we don’t even have enough to cover an entire class.”
While it was originally designed as an elementary school when first opening 11 years ago, Andrews said grades were added each year until Herons Crossing was eventually a K-8 school.
She argues that having older, middle-school students occupy a facility that was originally built to accommodate younger students has resulted in overcrowding.
“Classroom sizes are up to 36 kids in some classes, and that’s a lot of wear and tear, especially when it’s bigger kids in a smaller kids' school,” she said.
Another avenue Andrews said the contest money could go toward is the purchase of more CCTV cameras. She said there are only two security cameras at Herons Crossing at the moment, which means vandalism and other incidents on campus can go unnoticed.
“Right now, we’re only covering our front doors and parking lot,” she said. “A lot goes on at a middle school that wouldn’t be happening at an elementary school. So security cameras are a must.”
Though Andrews said Herons Crossing's school council regularly conducts fundraising events to help raise money for things like field trips and in-school events, she claimed parents of kids at Herons Crossing are getting “tapped out” in terms of how much is being asked of them. Therefore, she argued the prize money from KidoodlEd could help take some of the burden off of families.
“We’re constantly asking families for money, and it’s too much,” she said, adding that parents also have to occasionally pay out of pocket while volunteering on field trips, and that the contest money could go toward topping up certain expenses, including parking, transportation, and other related fees.
“I’d say fundraising dollars per year, we’re making around $20,000, which is really low,” she said. “Those funds are very stretched, and those funds typically go toward in-school events.”
As part of KidoodlED's contest, Herons Crossing School submitted a student-led video demonstrating why they should be considered for the $20,000.
The deadline to vote in the KidoodleEd contest is June 15. Andrews said Airdronians can watch Herons Crossing's video and vote at school-giveaway.kidoodle.tv/vote/#g3997029
The winning schools will be announced on June 16.
