Students say they’re proud to attend a new school named after a respected politician who died in November 2015 after stopping to help a fellow driver on the QEII Highway.
Grade 4 student Mehar Sidhu said he’s happy the school is named after someone “important.”
“He’d always help others, so I’m really honoured to come to this school,” Sidhu said.
Danya Young, a fellow Grade 4 student, echoed that sentiment, adding that Bhullar “cared for other people whether they were his family or not.”
Manmeet Singh Bhullar elementary school has a capacity of 600, but currently houses just over 400 students.
The school’s principal said the facility will also act as a community hub within the Martindale area.
“The design of the school itself has so many spaces,” Kevin Bauer said. “It will not be just a place that’s filled with students during the day, but rather community engagement during the evenings and opportunities for families to come here, as well. So, I do envision it becoming part of the community – and a vital part of the community here.”
Bhullar’s sister says it was her brother’s goal to “inspire young people to realize they could make a difference.”
“I hope that this building builds future leaders just like Manmeet,” Tarjinder Bhullar said. “That is the absolutely amazing thing, is that for the years that they are here, they will learn about him hands-on and they will recognize that in them lives a little bit of him.”
WATCH BELOW: Hundreds attend state memorial for Alberta MLA Manmeet Bhullar
Bauer said the school will continue to work closely with the Bhullar family knowing that the former MLA “holds a very important place within our community of Martindale and within our families – and our province, for that matter,” he said.
–With files from Aurelio Perri
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