Ponoka Elementary school ‘sprucing’ up courtyard space
Published 9:32 am Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Ponoka Elementary School (PES) has a new art instalment in its courtyard that reflects the community’s history and embodies what the school hopes the space will become.
In the last week of September, Central Alberta chainsaw artist Darren Jones spent dozens of hours shaping the 10-foot trunk of a rooted spruce tree in a beautiful wood carving sculpture.
By the time he was working on finishing touches and details on Sept. 29, he’d already been working on the sculpture for 28 hours. Students were able to observe the carving process during school hours while Jones was working on the piece.
The design concept is based around the Battle River.
Starting near the base of the tree with a First Nations village along the waterway, the river winds around the trunk, surrounded by local animals and other depictions of the area over time, such as the first settlers arriving in wagons and a grain elevator.
“Follow the river up, and as you progress, of course settlers established towns and farming, so I put the grain stalks up there and the grain elevator to represent the community,” said Jones, who hails from Rocky Rapids, near Drayton Valley.
Jones’ day job is working in the oil patch, but chainsaw work carving is a passion of his.
His unique art pieces have been commissioned by several other Central Alberta communities, including carvings in Popow’s Park in Lacombe.
The PES Courtyard Committee came together at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year with the goal of revitalizing the space.
The six-member committee is made up of four PES teachers, principal Nathan McEntee, and a Wolf Creek Public Schools staff member.
“We wanted to connect everything with water, so that’s where the idea for the Battle River came from,” said committee member Paula Wilkins.
“We gave the artist a general idea of our story, which is rooted in Indigenous culture, and through the river … and the meeting place, between the cultures,” said Wilkins.
This past summer, two large, old trees were marked for removal as they were a potential risk for damaging the building, and the committee requested they be cut down to 10 feet tall to allow for the carving.
“Both trees were topped off at 10 feet, with the intention of carving one and we are going to be doing something else with the other,” said committee member Kayla Berggren.
The committee wants the courtyard to reflect Ponoka’s history, as well as being a space for hands-on learning and being in nature.
“An outdoor classroom is our goal and on the other side, is to create a space where students can come outdoors to learn and engage with the environment,” said Berggren.
So far, the space includes a small greenhouse, a teepee, and now the tree carving.
The committee wants to create an outdoor classroom, an outdoor climbing structure with a nature design and more garden planters for students to plant seeds.
In the past year, the committee has applied for and received three grants.
The AMA Garden Bursary donated $2,500 in December, 2025 to make upgrades to the greenhouse and install garden beds (yet to spend).
VIDEA, an Indigenous-led youth-focused educational development organization, gave $4,000 in March 2026 for a restoration project which was used for the tree carving project.
Learning By Nature granted $1,000 in May 2026 to support student climate and biodiversity projects (yet to spend).
On Sept. 29, the committee met with Crosby and Nash consulting firm (who is doing the work for free) about further developing a vision and plan for the space.
In future months, the committee will be reaching out to the community for donations towards the courtyard revitalization project.
READ MORE: Rimbey man turns chainsaw gift into artistic tool