St. Joseph’s School wins $10,000 in nation-wide contest

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Sunny South News

By Erika Mathieu
Sunny South News

St. Joseph’s School is celebrating last week’s announcement that the school has won $10,000 as part of the Kidoodle.TV’s $1 Million School Giveaway.

Kidoodle.TV is a free and child-safe streaming platform which, in partnership with DudePerfect a popular comedy group which posts kid-friendly videos to YouTube and social media, is giving away $1 million to 100 schools across Canada and the U.S.

As part of the nomination process, participating schools created and uploaded a video submission sharing why their school should be considered for the Kidoodle.TV’s $1 Million School Giveaway. The contest was open to school staff members of public elementary schools across Canada and the U.S. Once all video submissions were received and posted, voting commenced from June 1-15, with community members able to cast one ballot per day during the four day voting period. The top five schools with the most votes received $20,000.

St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale is among several schools within the Holy Spirit Catholic School Division (HSCSD) to receive the funding. St. Mary’s School (Taber), St. Michael’s School (Bow Island), and six HSCSD schools in the City of Lethbridge also received news on June 16 they were recipients of $10,000 in funding.

Superintendent Ken Sampson said, “I am thrilled that our schools have received funding for a variety of resources they just, otherwise, wouldn’t have access to. Things like technology, band instruments, art supplies, gym and sports equipment, and field trips. I’m also really encouraged to see how our students were engaged in the video submission process and are helping to advocate for the financial needs of their school.”

Brent Christensen, Principal of St. Joseph’s School said administration was pleasantly surprised to learn the school would be receiving the funding.

“I was surprised. It was one of those things where it was a pretty big cash prize and I definitely wasn’t expecting to hear that we won. It was a very quick turnaround to get the video put together and we were’t sure we had enough time to create what was needed.”

According to the video submission, which went on to receive nearly 300 votes, St. Joseph’s suggestions for how to allocate the funding included sports equipment, including pickle ball and volleyball equipment, cement for an outdoor basketball court, a gym stage, new books and other resources for numeracy and literacy, enhanced security, outdoor play equipment and a greenhouse, but Christensen said a final decision has not yet been made.

“We are still in discussion. There are lots of very worthwhile projects and instead of putting a little bit of money toward a whole bunch of things we are trying to find one or two big things to put the money towards. Right now two of the big things we are considering is a new stage for our Christmas concerts and plays and graduation ceremony, and we are also looking at the possibility of setting up a sports lab for our junior high class.”