HRHS welcomes media for sneak peek of expansion

spring starting in February,” said McCarthy.

“We’re excited about the new opportunities that’ll be brought to students, not only for career development but also, hopefully for some national and international competition.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Centre will open in the near future and will house a birch tree harvested by the school in the fall.

There’s a lot to talk about at Holy Rosary High School (HRHS) with the official grand opening of the school’s new expansion only a week away.

The Lloydminster Catholic School Division (LCSD) invited members of the media for a tour of the new wing last week for a progress check before the classrooms are filled with students after the Feb. 10 opening.

“The entire space is built like a Venetian square, and at the centre, we have a film space,” said LCSD director of education, Nigel McCarthy.

“The centre of the square is a large-scale film projection system where you could gather 100 or 200 students, on two levels, and view a film or perhaps talk to someone overseas and communicate in those sorts of ways.

“We’ve made use of every area in the building as an educational space.”

Since the early planning stages of the expansion, the LCSD has been very serious when it comes to student input.

Students throughout the entire LCSD were asked what they wanted to see in the new wing. Those ideas were then taken to the architects working on the project and turned into a reality.

“Principal Jeremy Blais and Mr. (Vince) Orieux, and so many of the leaders in our school division, really made a conscientious effort over the last three years to work with students and go out and talk to them about what their vision was. When we presented that to the architects, their reaction was ‘we can build this,’ and really, from that, we have.

“It’s a pretty magical space and a great building project to participate in.”

For McCarthy, one of the most impactful elements of the expansion comes down to classroom design. Each “standard” classroom in the new wing is equipped with three large TV screens, which students can control with their personal computers for presentations and group activities. Classrooms are also much more open concept.

“I think the basic design of every classroom teaches people how to cooperate in the pursuit of a common goal and allows them to compete amongst groups or see the accomplishments of others, in real-time, I think some of those foundations really make this a unique set of spaces, and I think our teachers are excited to take them on.”

A few major highlights of the expansion include the Truth and Reconciliation Centre, the Kinesiology Lab, a state-of-the-art Arts Centre, the Innovation Centre, and more.

“The Innovation Centre is going to host our video game design programming as well as video editing, and a new Esports team, which will be competing this

“It will be a space to accommodate the learning all Treaty People have to do and really responds to the Truth and Reconciliation calls-to-action, especially number 64.”

Call to Action #64 states: “We call upon all levels of government that provide public funds to denominational schools to require such schools to provide an education on comparative religious studies, which must include a segment on Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and practices developed in collaboration with Aboriginal Elders.”

McCarthy also noted the focus of the school’s new art centre was all about natural light and allowing students to work on different mediums of art at the same time.

“Students should be in their classes (here) for the second semes - ter on time, and we’re really looking forward to opening up our new space.”