Burnsview Students Team Up With Interfor Lumber Mill to Refresh Their Classroom

DELTA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 27, 2013) -

When Burnsview Secondary School teacher Laura Masini Pieralli saw her new Communications 12 class settle into their desks at the start of this school year, she got a good chuckle.

"The funniest thing was doing earthquake drills," she says. "Some of the male students are more than six feet tall, and seeing them trying to crouch under those small desks - you know the ones with the seats attached to them - it was hilarious."

Masini Pieralli envisioned a classroom with large, high-end boardroom tables where her students could sit together in a more collaborative environment and learn as a team. But she knew the dream came with a high price tag.

So she had her students write letters to Randy Chadney, the mill manager at the Interfor Acorn Sawmill in the Tilbury area of Delta. They asked him if the mill could donate lumber so they could build the tables. Chadney agreed enthusiastically, and even invited the class to the mill for a tour.

"This was a great opportunity for Interfor to support the students by enhancing their learning space," he says. "They also learned about a local business that takes sustainably harvested BC wood and creates world class building products for international markets."

After hosting the mill tour for the students, Interfor delivered two lifts of kiln-dried B.C. Douglas-fir lumber to the school. The wood shop teacher at Burnsview Secondary, Glen Bruhn, coached the students through the entire process of building the tables - from design to construction to finishing. From November 2012 to May 2013, the students worked together to create a new collaborative learning environment for their classroom. The Principal at Burnsview, Carla Rizzardo, was also incredibly supportive of the project and purchased chairs for the room.

The handcrafted boardroom tables are complete, and Chadney will be coming to Burnsview on May 30 to meet with the students and share in their pride.

Please join us as we celebrate the accomplishment of these students:

This project is a great example of how students and business in the community can come together in an equally rewarding endeavor to build connections and leave a legacy.

About Interfor:

Interfor is a leading global lumber supplier, with annual capacity of more than 2 billion board feet, and one of the most diverse lines of lumber products in the world. The Company has operations across North America and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. For more information about Interfor, visit our website at www.interfor.com.