The shovel is in the ground for the construction of the new wing at the Holy Rosary High School.
MLA’s Colleen Young, Garth Rowswell and Mayor Gerald Aalbers joined with the School’s community to bring greetings and lend a hand for the symbolic effort.
Five years of planning have culminated in the start of the new wing that will have 16 classrooms and is costing $10 million.
MLA Colleen Young shared commendations from Education Minister Dustin Duncan and celebrated the input of Holy Rosary student Nathan Eckel, who rendered the 3D designs.
“I too would be remiss, if I didn’t mention the excitement that came with Nathan Eckel coming on board and producing those 3D images from all the suggestions from students across the division. That was just amazing to see, and to see that students are involved in designing what their future education would be.”
The Bi-Provincial partnership between the Saskatchewan and Alberta governments was another key facet that both MLA’s touted as the build gets underway.
MLA Garth Rowswell was impressed with the way the school has managed its present circumstances.
“There was like 900-some students there and 121 per cent capacity. So the need for [an] expanded area was obvious. What I was really impressed by was the ingenuity, they had staggered recesses. They tried to make everything work.”
That observation of tight school capacity is compounded by the number of students that are scheduled to graduate from the Elementary schools to Holy Rosary by 2023. Director of Education Nigel McCarthy does the math on the projected student population increase.
“If we took the students that are in grades three to seven in our schools and put them into Holy Rosary, there’s nearly 1200 students. It’s auspicious and very hopeful for the future of our community. It was a simple matter of numbers to accommodate the innovation and the number of students that we already have. We needed to expand upon Holy Rosary and we feel like we are able to do that in a really exciting way.”
Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers looked to the future as he welcomed the build to expand education spaces.
“Our youth is our future and with the educational opportunities being presented with this new addition, I think it will speak great of all the opportunities that lie ahead in our City. To the business community, thank you for stepping up; Synergy and ADM. It takes the community to come together and we appreciate business supporting the educational needs of our City.”
LCSD Board Chair Paula Scott expressed the Division’s gratitude for the commencement of the project and shared their vision.
“As a catholic school division, we are tasked with growing disciples. This expansion will ensure we are able to grow the many disciples moving to Holy Rosary in the coming years. Thank you to Colleen and Garth for your support with the governments of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Thank you to all of our partners working with us on this project together.”
The wing at Holy Rosary should be completed by 2023.
