A sod turning ceremony was held last Friday for the new Catholic school that is to be built in the Clearview Ridge subdivision of Red Deer.

After an opening prayer for the ceremony and a scripture reading, attendees had a moment to reflect in silence before Deacon Claude Baril gave a blessing of the site where the new Father Henri Voisin School will be built.

Some of the people that were involved in the ceremony in a special way were a group of Grade 5 students from Maryview School in Red Deer. Directed by instructor Tammy Davis they lead the ceremony attendees in a round of Geron Davis’ song Holy Ground.

Throughout the ceremony work was being done behind the scenes already as construction equipment was being used to prepare the grounds for the upcoming new infrastructure.

“This is a very special day for Red Deer Catholic schools,” said Superintendent of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools Paul Mason. “We look forward to the opening of Father Henri Voisin School in September of 2014.”

Initially the school will be a Kindergarten to Grade 6 school, however, there is a possibility of expansion. They are projecting to have approximately 200 students when they open.

“With the population growing in Red Deer we expect that to grow quite quickly,” said Mason. “This school is much needed here in the north side of Red Deer to further establish a Catholic school presence here in the north end and we are looking forward to that for sure.”

Mason said that a new high school in Red Deer is also needed and they are hoping it will be announced in a slate of 50 new schools to be built around the province.

Mason recognized that a lot of people have worked very hard to get to this point.

“We are very pleased and encouraged with the opportunity in front of us,” he said.

Another opportunity that the school is looking to leverage or utilize here is the nearby senior’s centre. They are hoping to foster those inter-generational relationships with the seniors and having them come to the school and having the students going to the seniors as well.

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