Every year in the Sea to Sky Alternative School, students end with a camping trip.
In part, it’s a reward for a year completed, but it is also a bonding experience for the students and staff in the small alternative program, which is part of Sea to Sky Learning Connections.
This year, though, the trip was in doubt for the approximately 30 students after someone broke into their school in the portable buildings behind Howe Sound Secondary in December and stole 10 MacBook Air computers; the police investigation is ongoing. The school even lost its barbecue for the cooking program.
Teacher Josie Moore said the computers were important for the students, as they would be in any school setting.
“Our philosophy is everything should be available to all students,” she said.
The machines have since been replaced, but the effect has been their funding has been frozen, meaning money in the budget for the camping and a couple of other year-end events was gone.
The thefts also forced the alternative school to cut back in other ways. Food costs had to be reduced for a cooking class in which students made food together each day, in part as a learning experience but also to make sure everyone had a good, healthy lunch.
Another challenge has been transportation. For some of the students, taking a school bus is too stressful and not an option, so the school purchased transit tickets but has had to cut back.
“We have to cut down lunches, and we don’t get tickets,” Grade 11 student Chandra Gillie said.
But the school refused to give up on its camping trip. A couple of weeks ago, some students set up an online GoFundMe account to raise funds.
“I see a bunch of people do GoFundMe pages for a bunch of things,” said Grade 12 student Anitra Sarceric, who came up with the idea.
She set up the page and a bank account for donations two weeks ago. Part of the motivation, she said, was the chance to take one more camping trip with friends like Savannah Lacoursiere.
“She’s like my other half, so she helped me out,” Sarceric said.
The students, themselves, have gotten behind the project and spread the word about their efforts.
“Pretty much everyone shares a link for the GoFundMe page,” Gillie said.
The loss of computers and the subsequent fundraising campaign have had a galvanizing effect on the small school’s students.
“They seemed more engaged to support the program and support each other,” said teacher Marnie Watson.
The school has also been holding bottle drives and bake sales to raise the funds, and last week it hit its target of $1,500 to cover this year’s camping trip. Part of the aim of the effort, Moore says, is to give the students a sense of ownership over the trip.
For her part, Sarceric expected a few hundred dollars from the GoFundMe site and was pleased they more than doubled that.
“I thought I was going to get 300 bucks at the most,” she said.
The students have also taken on other projects. When principal Ryan Massey of Sea to Sky Learning Connections needed work on a new fence, he offered some students the chance to do the work and put the money he would have used for a builder into the school’s fundraising campaign.
Even though the students have hit the target for the camping trip, they are still fundraising for other projects and will keep the Internet site running. The easiest way to find the school’s fundraising page is to search for “Alternative school camping trip” on the GoFundMe website or for Sarceric’s name.
