The board of Prairie Land Regional School Division is feeling good after a meeting with Minister of Education Jeff Johnson last week in Hanna.
    On the list of topics was the imminent closure of Hanna Primary School.
    The PLRD board highlighted the difficulty of closing Hanna Primary in the timeline set out by Minister Johnson, which was to close the school by the end of the current school year.
    Under normal circumstances, a school division must close the school in question in the same academic year as the motion to close is passed. However, the PLRD board requested an extension so they may adequately modernize J.C. Charyk School, which will be transformed into a K-12 school.
    Minister Johnson agreed the extension would be appropriate and indicated the J.C. Charyk modernization is a high priority capital project slated for provincial funding in the near future. However, the price of crude bitumen has caused provincial revenues to fall considerably and other priorities may delay the modernization project.
    In a statement on the PLRD website, the board has pledged to continue to operate Hanna Primary until the completion of the J.C. Charyk modernization project.
    In addition, the PLRD board highlighted the need for a reinstatement of rural stabilization funding for remote rural school boards and removal of the transportation funding cap, currently set at one student per 3 square kilometres. PLRD currently has one student per 6.5 square kilometres, which is beyond the cap.
    Lastly, the board expressed a vision, to which Johnson agreed, for rural education needs to include programs relevant for rural students, such as learning opportunities based on the economic and employment priorities of rural communities. Also, such a vision would help students realize their career goals.
    The meeting was described as being positive. Now that Johnson has given his blessing for an extension of the Hanna Primary closure, the school will continue to operate for the foreseeable future.

    The sounds of fireworks could be heard all through Drumheller on New Year’s Eve, heralding the official start to Drumheller’s centennial year.
    The New Year’s Eve party was only the first of a year’s worth of events celebrating Drumheller’s centennial.
    Planning for the official 100th anniversary of the day Drumheller was incorporated,  May 15, is already underway. However, plans are currently in their infancy.
    “We [the Centennial Committee] know we’re going to have a meal of some type. Up until now, we’ve been focusing on New Year’s. Our hope is to get as many people as we can to come out,” said Sharel Shoff, Chair of the Committee. “We’ll have more information later, because we’re going to keep the centennial going.”
    One event being considered is a repeat of the New Year’s Eve centennial celebration.
    “I’d like to see another one. It was a great way to start the centennial. We may do it again next to end the centennial year,” said Shoff.
    To help keep the centennial spirit going, the committee is also encouraging everyone to use the centennial logo, as seen on the front pages of inSide Drumheller and The Drumheller Mail, for their own events.
    “We hope people, businesses, and organizations will understand it’s our centennial and use our logo,” said Shoff. “If they can use it, we really encourage it. It’s our 100th year; it only happens once.”
    An electronic copy of the logo can be obtained from Bob Cromwell, Economic Development Officer for the Town of Drumheller, at 403-823-1320.
    On New Year’s Eve, the Badlands Community Facility was filled with  roughly 200 people, young and old, for Drumheller’s New Year’s Eve Centennial Celebration.
    “It was a great. Everyone had a good time, the food was good, and the band was good,” said Shoff.
    The children were having fun in the field house and the adults upstairs in the banquet hall for most of the night, but the two came together to share in some fireworks launched from the hills across from the facility.
    Keep checking inSide Drumheller and The Drumheller Mail for the latest on Drumheller’s centennial celebrations.

Check out inSide Drumheller for this week's Streeters section, where we asked residents what they wanted to see in the centennial celebrations!