Students at Drumheller Valley Secondary School (DVSS) are aiming to ensure their school remains the place to be.
    Since the opening of school this year, the Friends of Rachel Club FOR, has been working hard to ensure students at the school feel included and stamp out bullying.

Students at Drumheller Valley Secondary School are doing their part to end bullying and help everyone feel welcome at school. The Friends of Rachel Club, which is entering its third year, has held a number of events at the school, including a speed meeting, where students had a chance to meet each other in rapid succession.

    “I think they’ve made a huge impact in terms of student morale, participation, and acceptance. There’s a great deal of compassion from the members of the FOR Club and some outstanding leadership,” said principal Curtis LaPierre.
    Students are also noticing a change in the atmosphere of the school.
    “There are so many problems in the world with bullying, especially on Facebook. We let students know we’re here to help. I think our school is pretty good. For example, if a junior high student is bullied,we’ll have senior high members intervene. It helps to have that older role model,” said Madison Colberg, co-president of the FOR Club.
    The FOR Club has held a number of events, including a welcoming for international students  with a tour around the valley and a speed meeting event, where students quickly cycled through and introduced themselves to one another.
    “It was awesome. It was great to see everyone interacting and have a lot of smiles. People met a lot of new friends, which was really nice to see,” said Chelsey Botros, co-president of the FOR Club.
    They also have a number of events planned throughout the year, including outreach to other schools.
    “We have a whole bunch of cool things planned to bring up the spirit, energy, and excitement at the school. I’m really excited to go out and speak about why bullying is wrong and why people should help when someone is being bullied,” said Lauren Main, vice president of the club.
    In addition to events, FOR Club members intervene when there is bullying and will try to help students feel included. For example, if a student is alone at lunch, members will join them.
    “People go through bad times, but you don’t want school to be one of them. You want to know your peers support you,” said Main. “That’s what FOR Club is all about; accepting everyone.”

    Despite a wintery Sunday, the Atlas Coal Mine is ecstatic with the turnout at this year’s Haunted Coal Mine.
    Over the past two weekends, over 1,200 visitors braved the Big and Little Boos.
    “It’s up from last year and one of our better years. I expect we raised over $10,000, which goes back to the restoration of the tipple,” said Jay Russell, with the Atlas Coal Mine.
    The first weekend was quite strong. Just under 400 people attended the Big Boo on the evening of October 19 and a further 300 the following afternoon. The numbers swelled even more on October 26 for the second, and final, Big Boo, with over 600 visitors. The weather for them could not have been better.

The Haunted Coal Mine was as scary as ever, delighting over 1,200 visitors this year, despite some early snow on Sunday, October 27. Organizers are already thinking of new ways to frighten people next year for the tenth anniversary of the Haunted Coal Mine.

    “The last one was perfect. We had people coming right up to 9 o’clock,” said Russell. “I’ve already put an order in for excellent weather next year.”
    However, things turned snowy the next day for the final Little Boo and 71 people turned up.
    “It was quite good, but we were disappointed in the weather on Sunday. Our numbers that day were lower than we would’ve liked, but higher than what we expected!” said Russell. “The plus side was that it gave us a lot more time to spend with each person and have some fun.”
    Not only did the numbers attest to the success of the Haunted Coal Mine, the comments showed the scares were as good, if not better, than last year.
    “When the kids go by and say ‘that was scary!’, I know we did a good job. There were other comments, saying they had a great time and it was scarier than before,” said Russell.
    The Haunted Coal Mine is the Atlas’ largest fundraising event. The money raised goes towards maintaining and restoring the site.
    “This is our single biggest fundraising activity we do each year and it couldn’t be done without the volunteers. We had around 70 volunteers and what a great, dedicated group of people to take time out of their lives and scare people,” said Russell.
    Even though the Haunted Coal Mine is over, organizers are already thinking ahead to next year. They are cooking up something big in light of the Haunted Mine’s tenth anniversary.
    “Next year will be our tenth year. We’ve been very lucky this has been so successful,” said Russell. “We have some evil cunning going to happen next year.”