About 200 parents and students rallied at A.E. Bowers Elementary School, Nov. 8, to sign Grade 8 student Leah Moore’s petition for more school space in Airdrie.
The petition is 700 signatures away from her target of 4,000, an important number to reach, according to Moore.
“I know how I’m affected, so once I see how things for kids are in four years… I can’t imagine how bad it’s going to be,” said Moore, a student at Muriel Clayton Middle School.
“That’s why they are here, because they know it’s going to affect them.”
Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown applauded Moore’s efforts and said the teen’s activism speaks for itself.
“We need to grassroots this thing, politicians aren’t listening,” he said. “The volunteerism is spectacular. It requires a huge effort like Leah. We need 100 Leahs, we need 1,000 Leahs.”
School trustees, politicians and advocate groups spoke out including Airdrie-Chestermere MLA Rob Anderson. He said Airdrie was unfairly excluded from the list of 32 approved schools before the 2008 provincial election.
“(The list was) made for political reasons and that’s just the truth,” he said. “That may be acceptable in other parts of the world… but that should not be acceptable in Alberta.”
Steve Goodall, a member of Airdrie’s Council of School Councils, presented numbers to the audience that surprised and upset many. Airdrie’s has a total of 6,982 students in public, Catholic and private schools, representing 17 per cent of the city’s population.
“We do not have enough facilities to meet the provincial minimum recommendation for classroom size,” he said.
Lisa Brade, a mother with two students in local schools, came out to support Moore and called the current space situation frightening.
“It’s pretty phenomenal that (Moore) would recognize it and is taking a stand,” said Brade. “I’m here to give her that support.”
Airdrie Chamber of Commerce President Mike de Bokx has three children in local schools and said one learns in a class of 45 students.
“How do you work in an environment like that?” he asks.
“That’s almost as bad a university class.”
The rally’s overarching message was frustration, but also hope.
“We are all here today for the same reason, to find a resolution to the shortage of schools in Airdrie,” Moore told the crowd.
Anderson looked forward to a bright future for Airdrie, led by its youth.
“I’m looking into this audience today and that’s all I see, a bunch of leaders,” said Anderson. “In this community, we do not wait for things to happen. We make things happen. We stand up for what is right.”
“On Nov. 16, we will march into the Legislature and tell them what we need,” said Moore.
Moore will meet Anderson on the steps of the Legislature to present him the signatures of the petition and sit in while he presents it to the Progressive Conservative government.
