Matt Smith of North Queens Active Living describes the new track and soccer field project at North Queens Community School in Caledonia to Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad)

Supporters of a long-awaited new soccer field and track at North Queens Community School in Caledonia cleared the final hurdle on Friday afternoon as Queens MLA Kim Masland announced the Nova Scotia government’s grant of $800,000 toward the $1.1 million project.

The Region of Queens had earlier committed $250,000 and a local resident donated land worth $7,500 to expand the field.

“This is absolutely a change maker for our students and our community,” Masland said in an interview after the announcement at the school.

“Our students will now have the opportunity to train at home, to be able to compete in sports that they’ve never been able to compete in before because they didn’t have the place to train. This is about investing in rural communities, this is about investing in our youth, and I’m just so excited about this project.”

The 325-metre gravel track and regulation-sized natural soccer field will mean that the 235 students from pre-Primary to Grade 12 will be able to stay in their community to train and compete. Now, students must travel to Bridgewater or Liverpool or even farther away to Mahone Bay to participate in outdoor school sports.

A concept drawing of the new soccer field and track at North Queens Community School. (North Queens Active Living)

It will also mean that the school will have a place to hold outdoor physical education classes again. As part of the project, its outdoor classroom will also be freshened up, along with a new canopy built by students in the school’s high school construction trades program.

Jake Flemming will be entering Grade 7 at the school in September. He’s on the volleyball and basketball teams and he throws javelin. He said he’s looking forward to using the new facility.

“I think it’s pretty good because hopefully it will help our stuff because we had to kind of practise inside a few times,” he said.

Principal Cindy Arsenault said it’s not safe for kids to use the field because it’s in such bad shape. It’s especially treacherous after it rains because it doesn’t drain properly, and years of damage from ATVs using the field have left holes in the turf.

“So you end up with giant mucky puddles all over, and plus there’s holes because ATVs are here so we have kids stepping in the water and twisting their ankle or falling,” she told QCCR on Friday afternoon.

She said the new fenced facility will get more kids engaged in school sports, which will help lower absenteeism.

“It allows us to bring in some additional sports and some additional things that our kids have been asking for. We could do rugby and some other similar sports, bring back soccer. It means an opportunity not even during school but off school (hours) for families to come and play here and do picnics and we can now start hosting things instead of us driving all the time.

“So for our kids it’s a benefit, they can be involved where they couldn’t before. Now they can come and be on their home field and be participating in sports.”

The new field and track aren’t just for the school to use, it will also be available for the whole community.

Alyssa Short, president of the North Queens Active Living Society, said she and other group members have worked for the past six years to make the new field a reality, though the need for a new field and track goes back decades.

“I have young children here and I know that the impact that it’s going to have on their lives is going to be incredible,” she said, “and I can see for all of their friends growing up with access to something like this it’s going to make such a big difference in their lives and I know for the community at large, there are so many people excited about this and who are going to take full advantage of this and it’s going to have a huge impact.”

Short expects work to begin this summer. She said she hopes the track and soccer field will be ready by the spring.

With a new rubberized track and artificial turf soccer field set to open soon at Liverpool Regional High School, Queens County athletes and community members will soon have two new facilities.

Masland said that will help young athletes from the area follow in the footsteps of Queens County Olympians like Jenna Martin and Sarah Mitton.

“We’re developing future athletes. If we think about Liverpool, we think about our Sarah; if we think about North Queens, we think about our Jenna. And there’s more Sarahs and there’s more Jennas and we have to make sure we have the place for them to grow and to train.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, details for regional councillors the track and field project at North Queens Community School. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)

A new field and running track will be built at North Queens Community School, thanks to funding from the Nova Scotia government and the Region of Queens.

Regional councillors approved $250,000 this week for the $1.1-million project at the Primary to Grade 12 school in Caledonia.

That’s on top of a planned $800,000 grant from the province.

Alyssa Short, chairwoman of North Queens Active Living, told council at their regular meeting on Tuesday that the field is “almost completely unusable”.

“And so the result is our athletes are not able to train at the school and that has historically been the case.”

Olympic track athlete Jenna Martin went to the school and couldn’t use the field to train, Short said. She had to go to Bridgewater, which is an hour’s drive away.

“There’s very poor drainage, the ground is uneven, it’s compacted,” Short told councillors.

“The water pools up in the middle and so it’s soaked all year round.”

And because it isn’t fenced, ATV riders have further damaged it by “doing doughnuts” in the field, she said.

“It’s to the point that the students are not even able to use the field for recess or for sports or anything.”

The field was built in 1984 with no proper drainage or fencing, Short said. The school’s outdoor classroom is also not safe to use, she said.

The new field will feature a 325-metre track, which is smaller than the regulation 400-metre size. Short said a larger track would have tripled the cost of the project. The field will be fenced, lit and have proper drainage. North Queens Active Living will maintain the field.

“We’ve gone with a natural turf field that will have fencing. And very importantly, it will be a very good quality walking track that will be used by the local community.”

Short said they hope to put the project to tender immediately, and have the work done over the summer and fall so that it will be ready to use next year.

Councillors said the new field and track are vital in a smaller, rural community like Caledonia and the surrounding area.

“I think it’s very important that this project be supported by this council,” said District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins, whose area includes North Queens.

“People out in the country have to travel so far for many things and when you start moving your children an hour one way and an hour back just so they can train on a track after they spend all day in school, (that) shouldn’t be unacceptable. I think we should move forward with this.”

North Queens Active Living had requested $250,000 through the region’s community investment fund. Instead, councillors voted to fund the project from their accumulated budget surplus.

This will be the second new track and field in Queens County. A $3-million, 400-metre rubberized track and artificial turf soccer field at Liverpool Regional High School is expected to be ready by early July.

After the funding was approved, Short told QCCR she’s “absolutely grateful” for the municipality’s support.

“I know the school is going to be thrilled, but I think the whole community is really going to get behind it,” she said. 

“It’s going to mean that athletes who have it in them to become athletes have the facilities to follow through on what they’re capable of. And I think there’s probably been a lot of potential lost in North Queens over many years. And I think that having this facility is really going to have a lot more athletes come out of North Queens.” 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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North Queens Community School in Caledonia is one of the recipients of the new School Advisory Council Innovation Fund. (NQCS Facebook page)

North Queens Community School in Caledonia is one of 26 schools across Nova Scotia awarded funding through the new School Advisory Council Innovation Fund.

The fund is sponsored by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. It provides grants of up to $10,000 to test an idea that could be expanded to other schools. The province announced the program in December to encourage new and innovative projects to support student achievement and well-being.

“I am so impressed with the creativity and commitment to bettering schools that SACs showed in their applications to the innovation fund,” said Becky Druhan, minister of education and early childhood development.

“The councils really demonstrated their deep understanding of their school communities and the things that get students engaged in their learning experience.”

The North Queens Community School’s project is a W’koum (wigwam). Led by a community elder, students will sustainably collect materials to build the structure. 

The Primary to Grade 12 school plans a community celebration when the W’koum is finished and it will be incorporated into the school’s outdoor learning environment.

School advisory councils are volunteer-driven and usually include parents and guardians, school staff, students and other community members.

The province received 128 applications for funding. More than $250,000 was awarded to recipients.

Projects will be featured at the first provincewide SAC conference in September.

Some of the other successful projects include: hydroponics to expand school gardens; a model apartment for students with special needs; and a “right to bike” program, which supplies students in grades 3, 4 and 5 with larger bicycles and safety equipment.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Rick and Liz Carten. Contributed by Rick Carten

Beginning this June, graduates living in the North Queens Community School District can get help paying for their post-secondary education.

A new trust has been established by the John Cormac Carten Foundation which will award up to $1,000 USD to any student who meets the eligibility criteria.

Foundation trustees Rick and Liz Carten named the fund in honour of Rick’s great-great-grandfather John Cormac Carten who emigrated from Ireland to Liverpool in the 1830s.

Rick Carten, who lives in Virginia, says he feels a connection to North Queens and wanted to do something for the people living there.

“My wife and I do not have any children,” said Carten, “so this was my way of passing on some of my good fortune to my ancestral homeland.”

Carten has been looking into his roots and learned his grandfather prospered in the shipping trade before moving to Halifax in the 1850s.

The elder Cormac had a dozen children and many of his eight daughters married local men with family names that are familiar in North Queens such as Baxter, Devenney, Ennis, McBride, and Nixon.

The last Carten descendent, Thomas Carten ran a general store in South Brookfield from around 1933 until his death in 1960.

Rick Carten says the John Cormac Carten Foundation is modelled after the highly successful J.D. Shatford Memorial Trust which has benefitted over 1,000 students around Hubbards for the past 60 years.

The scholarships are open to any students living in the North Queens Community School catchment area, regardless of if they attend that school so long as they graduate and can show they’ve been accepted at a university or college.

The same student can receive an award from the foundation up to four times during their post-secondary studies.

Students can apply through their guidance councillors and through the John Cormac Carten Foundation website.

Rick Carten is hopeful he will have the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony at NQCS this June to meet some of the prospective recipients.

“I want to make sure that no one gets left behind who really deserves and qualifies for a scholarship,” said Carten. “I think it’s really important for them to at least have that opportunity to follow their dreams and their passions.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
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Photo contributed Emma Goulden

Students at North Queens Community School will enjoy a safe grad adventure after fundraising efforts exceeded expectations.

Parents of North Queens grads have been working for two months to raise $9,000. A recent online auction raised close to $4,300 pushing them past their goal for a total just shy of $11,000.

One of the parent organizers Marie Gernon says it was a lot of work but worth it to give students a memorable final night together.

“It’s important that they go have fun and then they just [can say] I graduated, I’m done, you know?” said Gernon.

After COVID restrictions were lifted, the South Shore Regional Centre for Education informed schools they could make their own determination around what graduation celebrations to hold.

North Queens is moving forward with a pre-pandemic schedule of events including prom for grades 7-12 on June 27 and a full, in-person graduation ceremony in the gym on June 29.

Gernon is pleased the students will be ending their time together as a group.

“A lot of the kids have grown up together so it’s nice for them all to have that camaraderie and just see it through and support each other,” said Gernon.

Following the graduation ceremony, the students will board a bus to Halifax to start their safe grad night at Putting Edge and Get Air. Then it’s off to Bridgewater to spend time at HB Studios sports centre before swimming at the Best Western Pool. Once back in Caledonia, they will sit down for breakfast together at the Hollow Log restaurant before heading home.

Gernon calls the way the community rallied to support the graduates a blessing.

Going forward, she hopes parents continue to take an active role in planning graduation activities, not only to take the burden off teachers but to also be part of the celebration.

“You’ve raised them up to this point,” said Gernon. “It’s the parent’s celebration as well. So, it would be nice to see the parents get involved in it again.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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North Queens Community School graduating class of 2022. Photo South Shore Regional Centre for Education

Communities across Queens and Lunenburg counties are working to give the 2022 North Queens Community School grads a safe send off.

A group of parent volunteers has been hosting several fundraisers over the past weeks to provide students with a safe grad.

They launched an online auction at the beginning of the month posting items donated by businesses and residents alike.

Over 60 parcels are up for grabs, ranging from collectables and clothing to gift certificates for services.

Marie Gernon, the parent spearheading the latest effort, is confident given the support so far, the group will reach their $9,000 goal.

“For me, that’s one of the highlights is just seeing the community come together and supporting,” said Gernon. “It doesn’t matter if it’s my community or Bridgewater or Liverpool, everybody’s coming together.”

The money is being used to support safe-grad, a drug and alcohol free, all-night outing for the graduates.

The students decided after receiving their diplomas they wanted to head into Halifax and spend the night at the Putting Edge, Playdome and Get Air.

Money raised will cover those fees plus the cost of a bus and driver to bring the grads back and forth to the city before they return to the school for an early morning breakfast together.

Gernon says because of COVID it’s been two years since there’s been a safe grad and it’s important to acknowledge the difficult situation the students have come through.

“Let the kids know that hey, you guys have done an amazing job and this is, as parents and community, this is our way of saying good job, here’s something that you guys want to do,” said Gernon.

Auction items can be viewed by joining the Grad 2022 Online Auction Facebook page.

Bids can be placed in the comments below the item and bidding closes June 12 at 3:00pm.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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