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Ding…Ding…School’s In! (UPDATED)

We at Virtual High School are excited to welcome our new bell to its final, permanent location at our office. Since 2014, our bell has patiently resided in various places around our office, waiting for a permanent place of honor. Our bell proved to be a great conversation piece with visitors who were interested in this heavy, large object sitting abjectly in a corner of the meeting room. The bell is approximately the same size as traditional school bells which would be rung to announce the beginning and end of each school day. The bell is made of brass and was crafted in a local Mennonite forge using traditional casting methods.

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The support beams around the office were made by the Abram Martin Sawmill.

As a virtual, asynchronous school, VHS doesn’t use the bell in traditional ways. We are not tied to timelines, class times, or schedules that necessitate our use of a bell. Rather, for VHS, the bell is one way that we can acknowledge education in earlier times while we continue to take the lead in providing quality online education today. The VHS logo – the red apple – is another way that we recognize traditional educational symbols.

The Virtual High School office was built using timber from a local Mennonite sawmill. The white pine colonnade that you see in the adjacent picture was milled not far from the school, and virtually all of the work in constructing the school was done by local tradespeople. The colonnade affords a bright, open space for developers and the administration on our two floors. The VHS office, as you may or may not know, is a landmark, one with its own important history. Learn more about it here.

This past Friday, the bell was given its permanent home on the front balcony of the VHS office. We celebrated with the first official ringing of the bell. See the video below:


Help us name our bell

Our new bell needs a name! We want to ask for your assistance in choosing its name. Please comment on this blog post with your creative ideas. Virtual High School staff will then vote and the result will be posted here.

Happy naming!

UPDATE (February 12th, 2016): The votes from the VHS staff have just been tallied . . . and the winning name is . . . DING CROSBY!

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  • Name ideas contributed thus far are:
    – Bella, Belle, or Belly
    – Ringling
    – Willy the Wisdom Bell
    – Scarlet the Scholar Bell

  • Will Fraz

    I have two:

    1) The Opportunity Bell – VHS provides so many opportunities for students to learn and for so many people, it opens up new ways of thinking and learning. It also allows students to make their own timetable, which allows us to have opportunities that we might not normally have.

    2) The Progress Bell – VHS is all about progress. The school has a progressive staff that provides progressive courses. Students can progress at their own pace, making us feel successful and independent.

  • Nutak

    “The Bell”

  • More contributed names:
    – Ding Crosby (no relation to Bing or hockey Crosby)
    – Ringlette
    – Bellfield