THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Wow, what a day! Saturday, June 11th is a day we'll always remember, as an entire community showed up to create and enhance a dream for the students of VRCS. Words cannot express how thankful we are to each and every volunteer, donor, and student who made this initiative come to life. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Check out the link to the Eastern Graphic for some pictures from Saturday!

http://peicanada.com/eastern_graphic/publication/vernon_river_communty_supports_local_school

Happy Birthday VRCS!

What a birthday this turned out to be!! June 9th was a great day, full of excitement for sure!! We started with our student volunteers showing up for 8am to help start the inventory, and then Mark, our project manager from Let Them Be Kids, began his agenda for the day - sort of like a Tasmanian Devil. He put on the miles today, going back and forth between the build sites.

Anthony and Tony McQuillan were "the men for the job" (as Brandon would say) when it came to welding, it was awesome to see the structures take shape.

A huge thank you to Paul and Blair - our Eastern School District maintenance crew. They made a big difference today!

Mary and Helen - thanks for the grub, it kept everyone going all day long!!

So now we're finished for the night, pumped for tomorrow, can't wait to see the kids faces when they get off the buses in the morning:)

4 More Sleeps!

The long range forecast for Saturday looks good, we're ready and raring to go!! If you haven't already noticed, ground has been broken for the new playground pieces, two old pieces have been removed, and a new patch of pavement has been laid down for our ball hockey court. It's starting to look like a new playground here!!

Bring your party hat, we're going to have a big birthday celebration on Saturday!

12 more sleeps!

It's hard to believe that in two weeks we'll have a new playground!

Our playground committee has been organizing our volunteer list into specific areas, you should receive notification next week telling you what your job will be for the time you're here!

We've also received a tool list from Let Them Be Kids, telling us what we'll need to complete the job. If you can bring something from this list, please contact the school (651-8520) or email rlmacdonald@edu.pe.ca

0.65 cubic yards of concrete
15 shovels
5 sono tubes (12" x 36")
1 sono tube (18" x 36")
Bobcat or a tractor with a 10-12" Auger
2x4 or any bracing
string line
5 tape measures
2 2' torpedo levels
2 4' torpedo levels
6 cordless drills
4 21/64" drill bits
4 5/32" drill bits
4 1/4" drill bits
4 1/8" drill bits
1 heavy duty grinder or metal cutting chop saw
16 wheelbarrows
15 rakes
4 wrench/ratchet sets (common sizes needed: 3/4", 1/2", 9/16", 1/4")
1 sledge hammer
2 step ladders

15 more sleeps!

It's beautiful, sunny days like today that make you want a new playground! Today's phys ed classes are outdoors, and as we make use of our awesome green space, the students are constantly making comments about what our new playground will look like, how much fun they're going to have, and so on. We hope you are as excited as we are!

16 More Sleeps!

The excitement continues to build at VRCS as we wait for the Build Day! The playground committee has identified specific areas for our volunteers, so you can re-register and select one, contact the school and let us know if you have a preference, or allow us to put you where we need you! Either way, you should know the week before the build what your job will be!

We've also put out the call for 6-8 physically strong volunteers for Thursday, June 9th and Friday, June 10th from 8am-2pm. There are some things that need to be in place for Saturday in order for the playground to be completed. If you can help for part or all of either of these days, please contact the school.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock! Can't wait!

27 More Sleeps!

This week we hope to unveil the blueprints to the students so they can see the results of our 'Dot-mocracy'. We hope to soon finalize the details of the build day (June 11th, can't wait!!) and have specific jobs for all our volunteers. Thanks to all the VRCS students who have signed up so far - please encourage others to join the effort!

We've posted a thank-you to our generous donors who have contributed to our playground fund on our school website. For those who would still like to donate, please contact the school. Your support is very much appreciated!

Another e-newsletter is on its way, stay tuned!

35 More Sleeps!

Time is quickly passing, only 35 more sleeps until the big day! Our Playground Committee is working to organize the details of our Build Day, so everyone will have specific tasks when they arrive. Many of you have already listed your special skills when you signed up to help, we're trying to fulfill the wish list of volunteers we'll need for June 11th.

We're currently sitting at around 100 volunteers! Thank you to all who have joined our group!

Our next event will be a Family Fun Run/Walk on May 28th. This will take place at the school, and we'll be sending out more details within the next week. We're also coordinating a yard sale on the same day, so if you're doing your spring cleaning and notice some items you'd like to sell, come on over!

Dance the Night Away!

A huge THANK YOU to all who attended our fundraising dance on Saturday night at the Pownal rink. It was a lot of fun, and we're quite pleased with the tally raised - just over $8,000 so far, with a few things to still come in!

A special thanks to:
-the staff of the Pownal Sports Center
-Joey Kitson and The Big City Band
-Randy Cooper and Natalie Bulger for their live auction donations (Dinner for 6 and "Nibbles and Sips")
-Vanco for the beautiful flowers
-Dominoes for the door prizes
-Knights of Columbus for their assistance
-the O'Donnell's for their great idea!
-our awesome volunteers
-the wonderful donations to the Silent Auction

The dance was a great fund-raiser, but more importantly, it was a great opportunity to get together and have fun! Thanks to all who made this happen!

60 More Sleeps!

Time is ticking! We currently have over 50 volunteers who have joined the effort - THANK YOU!! You should be receiving a e-newsletter in the next day or two with some updates. If you haven't joined up yet, please do so! You don't need any experience, we'll have something for everyone to help out with! Check out our pictures from last week's Dot-mocracy, it was a blast! Students received Certificates of Participation for their part in the Dot-mocracy, and we received the lay-out of the what we've chosen from Let Them Be Kids. We'll be posting the pictures in the lobby of the school this week! THIS IS SO EXCITING!!

The Countdown Is On!

65 sleeps until our new playground is built! Can you believe it? We're doing our best to prepare for the big day, yesterday VRCS held our "Dot-mocracy" where all our students and staff voted on which items we'd like to see in our new playground. We spent the last hour of the school day looking at the options, voting, drawing pictures of what the new playground will look like, and creating some cool playground poems! It was a wonderful afternoon, and we're very excited about this next step towards a new playground! Many hands make light work, so please Join the Effort!

The Big Announcement!

At our assembly on Friday, 18 March, we made our big announcement! Click here to see the footage! (Beware, there's some scary singing!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4et0jB2Y0U&feature=youtube_gdata Thanks to all of you who have signed up to help out on our build day! We have a pretty impressive number so far, but many hands make light work, so click on the link and join our group! With 76 days to go, we're looking for as many volunteers as possible! Stay tuned for details about our "dot-mocracy" when our students design our new playground!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 40th Birthday Vernon River Consolidated! And what better gift for an awesome school than a BRAND NEW PLAYGROUND!

VRCS is a unique school - Kindergarten all the way up to grade nine! Sometimes it's a challenge to find play space and structures that everyone will enjoy. And when everyone is outside for recess, there are too many people for the few play structures we have. We need an update!

We are so lucky to have this opportunity to work with Let Them Be Kids, and use their guidance to help us build a new playground. It's going to take some work, but our community is great, and if we all work together we can provide a playground where our future leaders will play, learn, laugh, and grow!

Please help us make VRCS even better than it already is! Sign up today!