An online threat towards Hunting Hills High School that forced students and staff to abandon a Bike-A-Thon Tuesday night didn’t stop staff from getting back in the saddles Wednesday morning to finish what was started.
Bruce Buruma, director of community relations, said about 85 staff who were scheduled for a learning day, along with some RCMP officers and EMS members, pedalled until noon Wednesday.
“When they got there in the morning they just hit the bikes. They said we’re not going to let this stop us. We’re going to make as much of a positive out of this as we possibly can. It was an emotional day,” Buruma said.
Students like Logan Scott, 16, carried on. Scott continued to live stream himself on his bike. On Thursday afternoon, the Grade 12 student was seen pedalling on his bike on Twitch.
“Our event was taken but not our heart and spirit,” he said in a Facebook post.
Watch live video from BikeAThon2017 on www.twitch.tv
Buruma said students who came back Wednesday morning to pick up their gear after the school evacuation cheered and clapped when they saw what was happening.
“As kids came in it was reassuring. It was affirmative.”
The 24-hour Bike-A-Thon started noon Tuesday and ended abruptly at about 8:30 p.m. when the school went into lockdown and then evacuated after a veiled threat was posted on social media.
About 500 students and staff were at the school when it was cleared and the event was cancelled.
RCMP said they are still investigating the threat.
Buruma said the school district is working closely with police, and he encouraged anyone with information to come forward.
“We need to see consequences for these threats because they do have significant impact,” Buruma said.
He said the district is confident in the way things were handled Tuesday night.
“We know the situation that’s happening around the world. Threats like these are taken serious.”
Students at Hunting Hills are on their fall break this week and when classes resume Monday there will be supports in place for those concerned about the threat, he said.
“We will have conversations and discussions with our students.”
In May 2016, the school was evacuated for about an hour due to a bomb threat.
Despite Tuesday’s threat, the Bike-A-Thon raised $50,000.
Most of the money will be donated to Red Deer Public School District to support its equity fund and teacher mental health training. The rest stays in the school to aid exam supports, breakfast program, scholarship opportunities, and a new informal mentorship program started in partnership with the Women’s Outreach Centre. Vantage Community Services and Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre both received $5,000.
Buruma said it wasn’t the ending that was planned, but staff and others refused to give up.
“They realized it’s important that we move on and that we show that spirit of commitment. It’s a positive event, and we wanted to take what was unfortunate and make it as positive as we could.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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