W.D. Cuts students are having a party to celebrate their new digs next week, and everyone – even Alberta’s education minister – is invited.
William D. Cuts School principal Mike Tod is inviting everyone to drop by next Dec. 9 to celebrate the completion of the school’s $10 million modernization. Education Minister David Eggen is one of the many dignitaries set to attend.
Construction took just over a year, with staff and students doing a wonderful job of working around it, Tod said. Apart from some landscaping, the project is now complete.
“The kids love the building,” Tod said, and have been heard bragging about it to other students.
The modernization saw the school gain new Industrial Arts and Home Economics labs. Previously, it was the only junior high in the city without such facilities.
Crews also knocked out several walls and part of the ceiling to create a new courtyard area in the middle of the school. Well-lit by natural light, the courtyard now acts as the heart of the school and recently hosted a guitar concert, Todd said.
Other additions include all-new wiring, ventilation and portables, LED lights, lots of windows, a shiny new gym and a fitness room – the latter of which can become a classroom should the space be needed.
Next Friday’s event will feature formal speeches plus a video reviewing the renovation process, Todd said. There will be free refreshments and tours afterward.
The party starts at 2:15 p.m. Call the school at 780-458-8585 for details.
A city scientist will help teach kids how to add chemical chaos to their holidays next week as part of a free science show at the University of Alberta.
Paul Kane chemistry teacher Michael Ng will be one of several science wizards at the U of A this week taking part in the second-ever Wreck the Halls With Chemistry show.
Show organizer and U of A chemistry professor Roy Jensen said he first held this show as part of the International Year of Chemistry in 2011.
“I’ve been asked many times if I was going to repeat it, and this year I finally said ‘yes.’”
The show will feature a variety of entertaining reactions, explosions and fireballs meant to get students interested in chemistry, Jensen said. Some will have a Christmas theme/colour.
No Santas will be harmed during the performance, he added.
“I would traumatize way too many people if Santa blew up.”
Nor will there be any actual wrecking of halls.
“Any chemical you buy in a hardware store or in a drug store has the potential to be dangerous,” Jensen said, but the performers at this event will explain how to use them without causing a Christmas catastrophe.
While most of the performers will be U of A students, Jensen said he had also invited guest instructors such as Ng to take part.
Ng said he would likely perform the elephant toothpaste reaction amongst other stunts.
Jensen said the show could become an annual event if enough people are interested in it.
The free show is Dec. 8 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in room L1-440 at the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science on the U of A’s main campus. Email [email protected] for details.
