KCS - Red Deer
Bolted against the perimeter of one large room were
the cubicles of students
in grades 4-8. Miss Wendy Meyer taught a
handful of second and third graders in an expanded side room. Every
year thereafter expansion in numbers of students and teachers
testified to the able leadership of principal and board, as well as
to the growing commitment of families from Lacombe to Innisfail,
from Delburne to Sylvan Lake.
After five years of arranging and rearranging the configuration of
Woodlea's basement, the KCS Red Deer Board secured a lease in the
Church of the Nazarene. Gone were the cubicles, black-top only
playground, and shared photocopier. Now we had a "real school" with
classrooms, free-standing desks, large windows, grassy play area,
gymnasium and ... a staff room! Besides teachers being blessed with
only 2 grade splits (as opposed to four or five grades per teacher),
we now enjoyed the talents of art, music, and gym experts (and they
weren't even all rolled into one)! Our school bus began its daily
trek between Innisfail and Red Deer, also making a stop at our E.C.S.
portable several blocks away.
In 1994 another move resulted from God's miraculous, last-minute
(but timely) intervention when Red Deer city council favoured our
school over what had been considered a shoo-in contender on the
lease of our present location, the former North School. For the past
5 1/2 years, KCS Red Deer has enjoyed a beautiful facility centrally
located in the city. Large playgrounds with immediate access to
tennis courts/ice rinks, city buses, and a supportive community
association have been added to the "extras" we never dreamed of
thirteen years ago: library, sick room, music room, science lab,
computer room; ECS and playschool; art, home ec. and home ed., and
two school buses. Our nine full-time and three part-time teachers
are assisted by two tireless secretaries, a committed board, dozens
and dozens of helpful, encouraging parents; a seasoned principal
whose vision and dedication have not dimmed one whit over the years,
and a dynamic population of 200 students from playschool to grade
12. All this reminds us that when God leads, we need not waver or be
dismayed, for He shall overcome every obstacle, in His way, and in
His time.
