Walking out the east side doors of Peace River High School, Principal Wade Johnson looks out past the lush green yard, and nods towards the piles of sand on the south side of the courtyard.

"I built these courts 25 years ago," he remembers.

Peace High staff and students have long known they have one of the most picturesque school locations in the region. Now, not only will they have a place to sit, eat, and hang out while overlooking the Peace River valley, they will also have freshly updated beach volleyball courts.

Along the east side of the school building, there existed, until recently, two abandoned volleyball courts. Johnson recalled building these courts alongside another staff member, students, and community members in 1999. Johnson then maintained the courts until he moved down the street to take on the roll of principal at Peace River's T.A. Norris Middle School. Then, in 2010, Johnson restored the Peace High courts in time for the region to utilize them during the Peace Region's Summer Games.

"But after that they got left and the grass grew in," Johnson said. "Now what I am trying to do is bring this area back up, and make this area a focal point."

Johnson returned to Peace High as Principal in September 2022.

"By the time school starts, we are going to have all the sand leveled, we're going to have our nets up, and this will all be mowed and we're just going to be ready to go," Johnson said.

The school will use their older volleyball standards on the beach volleyball courts. These standards were recently replaced with brand new standards for the gymnasium following a generous donation from the Peace River Rotary Club and the Peace High Parent Council.

As it is with most large undertakings at schools, nothing would be accomplished without help from the community. Luckily, for the students at Peace High, the Peace River and area community have been tremendously supportive. 

When Johnson decided to begin restoring the courts at the end of the last school year, he put a call out for assistance and received help from Steed Grading to remove a layer of grass and weeds. He then secured an offer from the Town of Peace River and Ruel Concrete Ltd. who agreed to donate truck time and drivers to deliver a total of 12 loads of high quality silica sand, which was donated by Source Energy Services Ltd.

"A lot of times its just a matter of asking," Johnson said. "There's people in town who want to help."

The volleyball courts aren't the only project Johnson took on, in his own time, this summer. Johnson also had two loads of sand donated, delivered and dumped on the school's football field. He then went to work top dressing and seeding the field to provide an excellent playing surface for the football team this fall.