Sylvan Lake’s H.J. Cody High School has successfully completed the inaugural “H.J. Cody Gives Back” day.  

In April, the entire school provided services to the community, such as cleaning garbage around the lakeshore and community trails, running activities for children at the NexSource Centre and Sylvan Lake Library, and collecting food bank items.  

Grade 12 students also returned to their elementary schools and to the Fox Run School to interact with younger students.   

“We have amazing students and staff, and we want our community to see what we see every day,” said Alex Lambert, Principal. “Also, our community has been unbelievably supportive of us - through fundraising and volunteering and just being positive about our school. This is our way of saying thank you. We are fortunate to have a great community and we want them to know just how much we appreciate that.”  

After the event, Sylvan Lake residents took to social media expressing their gratitude for the students.  

On a Sylvan Lake community Facebook page, one person mentioned the storytime with preschool aged children, “I absolutely love the direction this high school is going and the service the teachers and youth gave to our community today."

H.J. Cody High School students read to preschool aged children during the H.J. Cody gives back day event.Sylvan Lake students read to younger students during the “H.J. Cody Gives Back” event.
Photo provided by Chinook's Edge School Division.

Another person wrote, “The food drive went amazing. We got an incredible amount. The food bank was very happy. It was awesome. We have a great crop of young people in our town.”  

The event was so successful that Lambert anticipates it will continue annually.  

“We had an amazing day,” said Lambert. “Students were amazing representatives of our school in the community and returned to our school ear-to-ear with smiles. It was heartwarming.”