Wednesday, May 25, 2022 Vol. 45, No. 21
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Holden Rural Academy needs parents to sign up students Kerry Anderson After exchanging their family farm in Didsbury for a farm two miles from Holden in 2001, Karla Janzen had no idea she would be spearheading a movement to bring the first charter school which includes a high school, to Alberta. Now all they need is a commitment from students. “We have great programming, we had teachers sending us resumes before we even asked for them (and they are well-qualified, strong candidates), we have the facility, and the government has increased funding for charter schools, but we have not been able to recruit enough students yet,” said Janzen. This is the final condition needed, and it is tied to funding. “Potential students seem to be adopting a waitand-see attitude,” she said. “They are waiting to see what their friends are doing, or they are waiting to see how we do and maybe they'll come next year.” But she added that there will be nothing to see if they don’t sign up now. “We are encouraging families to register their students, even if they haven't come to a final decision. They can always change their mind. So if they see our vision, they see the benefit of this kind of education for their kids, and they want it to be a choice for families in the area, they need to sign up.” Janzen says the Holden Rural Academy website has seen a lot of interest and inquiries, some from students as far as 50 km away. The registration application has been downloaded 93 times but few have actually been returned. “When we submitted our application, we had 58 students declared, and we projected 70 students for the first year, growing to 100 by year three. “I have been calling to confirm those students. I haven't made it all the way through the list yet, but I am now down to 48 students with only 14 confirmed as for sure, plus several that are still deciding,” said Janzen. “We have to present a balanced budget, which we can do with 50 students, but that would still be subject to approval by Alberta Education.” The communities in Holden and Ryley were surprised in March of 2020, when Battle River School Division (BRSD) made the decision to close the high school, and combine K-9 in Ryley School. Ryley School received a their first letter in November 2019, saying that Holden enrollment was low, and there would be some "difficult conversations." Holden School didn't receive a letter at all, accord-
ing to Janzen. There were lots of questions, few answers and everything moved very quickly, she added. The Village of Ryley Council at the time, directed their CAO to work on finding a solution to keep the high school in the area. “That's the point at which I joined the project,” said Janzen. “A group of five parents and community members started meeting in November of 2020. “We worked through the long and arduous application process. We read thousands of pages of research. We held zoom meetings and gathered the required declaration forms during Covid when we could have no in-person meetings, and in the summer went door to door, when it was permitted. “After many revisions, we were finally given conditional approval on March 21. We had hoped for the end of January, so this put us very far behind. “We received grants from Beaver County and the Village of Holden to assist us in getting through the last few hoops,” she said. “We hired educational consultant, Kevin Van Lagen (principal in the Prairie Land School Division) to evaluate our programming and building. He said yes to our ideas, and helped us to develop an educational plan. Our team was made up of parents, tradespeople, an engineer, and farmers, but no educators.” The group received a lot of great input from Van Lagen, whose board is not closing their small schools, and is committed to find ways for rural schools to thrive. There are only two other rural charter schools: Valhalla (K-9), which has been in operation for 15 years; and New Humble (K-6), which just opened last year. “We are the first rural charter to offer high school,” said Janzen. “We have had lots of conversations, especially with New Humble since they made this journey most recently.” Community is what we all need, she said. “The community meets the needs of its people, sometimes in amazing ways and sometimes in clumsy and bumpy ways, but it's our way. “We could see that for the school to succeed it needed to partner with the businesses and organizations already in place,” she said. “We wanted to do away with the notion that school's purpose was to get you out of your hometown to do bigger and better things someplace else. We also wanted to make high school a place where you are getting ready for your life as an adult, not just an endurance test until you can finally graduate.”
It should be a place where you can try things see what you're good at, and find out what you don't like too, she said. “We want our school to recognize that each student has a unique path, and do our best to find the right courses, work placements and connections to people that can mentor and coach them. “We want our students to find their community worthy of study, to find value and honour in the occupations of our residents, to consider our local stories as important. Students can take ownership over complex community challenges, working together to find solutions. “They are empowered to know they can make a difference.” When students have to travel out of their community for school, the natural supports that exist in their community are eroded, states Janzen. “The place-based philosophy of Holden Rural builds relationships between young and old, connects students to adults with similar interests, and to adults that have skills they want to acquire. “Students with strong natural supports are not as impacted by school closures as more vulnerable youth. The power of a community that wraps around students to enhance their support system is invaluable. “Good schools benefit all students, but protection and advocacy for the vulnerable is what we will be measured by.”
Second annual fundraiser for Sierra Patricia Harcourt Editor
A Dog Food Fundraiser will be taking place in memory of Sierra Loades from June 6-10. Donations of dog food can be made at the Viking Alliance Church, Viking Meat Market, Viking AG Foods, and Viking Home Hardware. This is the second such event to help pets and other needy animals in honour of Sierra, who was an avid animal
lover. Sierra was 12 years old at the time of her passing and friends and family are honouring her annually with the food drive. A year ago in June, the first pet food drive was held and was an enormous success, with both the community and school in Viking contributing food and cash to the Viking Holden and Area Food Bank. As well as the food, $930 in cash was used to help Continued on Page 12