The Discovery Centre for Balanced Education (DCBE), the K-7 learning facility located at the top of Sun Peaks’ village platter is growing in history, occupancy and size.
Sept. 6 will mark the first day of the second year of classes, this year for at least 36 students. That number is up from the 21 of last school year, and includes a blossom of nine kindergarteners.
In addition to seeing a lot of new faces in the classroom, students will also enjoy a larger learning space thanks to a temporary expansion of the existing facility. Sun Peaks Education Society (SPES) board members and other community volunteers will enhance the roof of the expansion by tying it into the original structure’s peak, and upgrade the siding to give the whole learning centre a fresh, clean appearance.
“We’re extremely happy with the results of year one,” says Barb Kupferschmidt Linder, SPES vice chair, “and I think the temporary expansion and the support of the community are going to make year two as good as, if not better than, year one.”
The Discovery Centre operates under the School District 73’s @KOOL distributed learning program, but the expenses for building space, teaching staff, insurance and incidentals for it are the responsibility of the SPES, a registered charity. These costs are exclusively covered through fundraising.
Upcoming fundraising events include Summerfest 2011 at the Cahilty Creek Bar and Grill on Aug. 19 and 20, as well as the Firefighters’ Gala in November.
Cahilty Creek Bar and Grill co-owner, SPES board member, and parent Yolanda Dye describes the restaurant’s first annual Summerfest as a community event whose proceeds will go to the SPES. “The school is such an exciting venture,” says Dye. “We want to make Summerfest an annual event—make it a kick-off to the 2011-12 school year, and a big thank you to all the community, volunteers and parents (who contributed to its success in its first year).”
That event will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Fri. Aug. 19 with live music, and food and drink specials, and continues on Saturday from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. with entertainment and free hot dogs and drinks for kids.
For more information on the Education Society and the Discovery Centre, visit www.balancededucation.ca.
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