Parkside School students pitch designs for proposed Redcliff middle school

The project was imagined by Parkside vice-principal and Grade 9 math teacher Rocheal Howes, who wanted to provide real-world lessons for her curriculum.

“Anytime that we can show them the connections to real life, whether or not they’re going to go to do school for design but they can see the use of these skills and how they translate into real life, I think that’s where the real learning is,” said Howes.

Presenting his group’s blueprints featuring a multi-use facility along with the school, Digney said it was a challenge to keep the project economically feasible.

“It has been a very eye-opening experience to how difficult it is to properly design a building with all the expenses that are unaccounted for,” he said.

Community members were brought in to evaluate the designs and provide feedback, including representatives with the Town of Redcliff and local contractors.

“The fact that they have a say and they have to answer to plumbers, electricians and to everybody about why they made the decisions that they did, I think they take it very seriously,” said Howes.

Among those evaluating the designs was Peter Kelly, an instructor and coordinator with Medicine Hat College’s built environment engineering technology program.

Well versed in scaling and the overall design process, Kelly said he was impressed with what he saw from the room of 14 year olds.

“I can see that they’re looking at concepts of scale, looking at one centimetre equals one metre, and considering how those scales relate to their environments that they’re working in,” said Kelly.

Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

Last March, Prairie Rose School Division included a proposal in their three-year capital plan for a $14 million new middle school in Redcliff that would be home to roughly 250 students.

The Town of Redcliff has designated 180 acres in the community’s southeast for the potential site of the school, while the division is waiting for the provincial green light.

“Redcliff has that need, we believe Redcliff should have a new school built in Redcliff, and we’re looking forward to the day that government approves that for us,” said Prairie Rose School Divisionb superintendent of schools Roger Clarke.

There is no timeline for when a decision from the province could come down, however the Redcliff middle school is listed as the division’s number two priority behind a complete modernization of Burdett School.

If and when provincial approval is granted for the project to move forward, Clarke said they’ll be reaching out to the community much as they’re doing now with the Parkside students.

“When that time comes of course, we’ll be doing [something] similar to what these kids are doing,” he said. “Which is going out to our constituents and saying what do you want in a school, what should that design look like?”

The Parkside students will be reviewing their designs in the coming days along with the feedback they received from the community partners in attendance on Monday.

Even though there’s no guarantee their designs will be used or implemented if the project moves forward, the students say it’s rewarding for their class to be included in the process.

“It feels very nice to be able to support the community in ways that are unconventional to how most people would support the community,” said Digney. “We are designing possibly the future of Redcliff.”

by Scott Roblin

Parkside School students pitch designs for proposed Redcliff middle school

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