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Pine Ridge Elementary School observes official grand opening

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Winkler’s newest school celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17.

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Pine Ridge Elementary School Principal Renae Hildebrand said the first couple of months have gone great. “Obviously there’s some hiccups here and there and there’s still a few little minor building touches to do, but the builders have been fantastic and staff have ebbed and flowed where it’s needed,” she said. “Kids have been really excited to be here, so the first month and a half has been great.”

The school experienced a setback at the beginning of April when a fire broke out on the roof. At the time, the school division didn’t know what damage had been done, but the blaze didn’t end up affecting construction and the school opened to its students in September.

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Hildebrand said it has been a fun challenge trying to create a new school community. “It’s not going to be happening overnight and I think everybody on staff knows that,” she said. “Some staff are still grieving their former staff, but everybody is trying really hard and making good connections. It just takes time to develop relationships, to develop trust, but the staff are really stepping into that and enjoying each other and enjoying teaching and working through routines, and learning what does school life look like at Pine Ridge School.”

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The school mascot is the Paladin, and Hildebrand said students chose it for themselves.

“We all want to be a paladin, someone who has integrity, someone who is kind to others, who sees something and fights for those who can’t fight for themselves,” she said. “It was very purposeful… it’s who they are right now. It’s very exciting for us to be able to help them develop those skills.”

At the grand opening, Grade 6 student Tennessee Neufeld spoke about some of the advantages that Pine Ridge students have.

“The most obvious privilege that we have here is all the new stuff,” he said. “Our books are in perfect condition, a lot of the furniture is brand new and our white boards are extra white.”

Neufeld said he and the other students would do their best to respect the new facility.

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“Another privilege we get is a lot of people to become friends with,” he said. “592 to be exact. Sure, we don’t have a playground, but that’s fine. That gives us a chance to make new friends with people from different schools.”

Neufeld also gave credit to the staff, who he said represent the school well.

“As students, we have a lot of opportunities to participate in Pine Ridge,” he said. “There are also a number of sports teams and an awesome student council. I’m excited to see what activities they have planned for us this year.”

Students from the school stood at doors to greet anyone who walked in for the grand opening, and Hildebrand said it’s important to school staff to work on creating leaders.

“All of us are leaders ourselves,” she said. “We’re in charge of our attitudes, our actions, our moods. We’re in charge of how we respond to people. There’s things that are out of our control but we are always in control of ourselves, so that’s what we want the kids to learn, is that they have to control themselves.”

“Their work ethic is all dependent on them,” she added. “Their kindness is dependent on them, their thoughts are dependent on themselves. We really want them to see themselves as capable leaders and they rise to the challenge. We see behaviour change, we see their self-esteem change because they see themselves in a different light.”

Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
MLA for Morden-Winkler, Cameron Friesen. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
MLA for Morden-Winkler, Cameron Friesen. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Winkler Mayor Martin Harder. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Winkler Mayor Martin Harder. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School Principal, Renae Hildebrand. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School Principal, Renae Hildebrand. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School Grand Opening, Winkler. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School Grand Opening, Winkler. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School Grand Opening, Winkler. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School Grand Opening, Winkler. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Left, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen, MLA for Morden-Winkler Cameron Friesen, Garden Valley School Division board chair Laurie Dyck. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Left, Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen, MLA for Morden-Winkler Cameron Friesen, Garden Valley School Division board chair Laurie Dyck. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Unveiling the time capsule at Pine Ridge School, Winkler. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Unveiling the time capsule at Pine Ridge School, Winkler. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School in Winkler, celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School in Winkler, celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School in Winkler, celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School in Winkler, celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School in Winkler, celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
Pine Ridge School in Winkler, celebrated its official grand opening on Oct. 17. (LAUREN MACGILL/Winkler Times)
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