CHESTERMERE – The Chestermere High School Learning Support team has been busy organizing an event that they hope will be the kickoff to the holiday season in Chestermere.
The school is set to host their very own winter wonderland on Nov. 26, and are inviting everyone in the community to attend. There will be hot chocolate and apple cider, holiday treats prepared by CHS Foods students, holiday music by CHS Band students and carols by CHS Musical Theatre students. There will also be art exhibits featuring the work of CHS Art students, some Christmas trees as well as log fire pits to warm up by.
The CHS Industrial Arts students are also busy preparing Santa Claus’ throne so that kids can have their photos taken with the man in red himself.
Learning Support staff member Katrina McArdle said that the idea for the event is to connect with members of the community who might not have ever been to the school.
“We know that there are a lot of people out there who care about the school and support it even if they never come in,” she said. “So we wanted to open up the school to the community and let them come in and see what we’re all about.”
McArdle said that they also want to re-connect with people who have had past connections with the school, whether they attended or their children attended. She said that they also hope to meet and interact with people who might have a connection with the school in the future.
“We’re basically just opening the door to everyone, and inviting them out to have some fun and enjoy the day,” she said.
Students have been working for over a month of some of the decorations that will fill up the South Courtyard, where the event will be held. They are currently working on some life-size paper-mache animals, including a couple of polar bears.
McArdle said that they’re excited to have so many students from the school involved in getting things together, from the decorating, to the food, to the music. She said that the students have been more than willing to help out and get involved which is nice to see.
“The big thing is that we’re asking people to bring in some food for the food bank,” she said. “We’ll provide everything else, but we would really like people to help us support the food bank, especially around this time of the year.”
McArdle said that they’re starting things off small this year, but that they do hope to expand and make the event into an annual celebration at the school if possible.
“We’ve got lots of ideas for things to do it the future, but we thought we would give it a go this year and see how it goes, but the idea is for it to become a yearly event that we can build on,” she said. “Hopefully it goes well and that the weather is fairly nice.”
The event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Chestermere High School, in the South Courtyard, and will run from 1 to 3 p.m.
