Clearwater Secondary School plans to stretch out donation dollars received from the local Sikh community selling their temple.

The Sikh community donated $184,000 last week to nearly two dozen groups, including $30,000 to the local high school – the recipient that received the largest sum of money.

Principal Darren Coates says the first $10,000 will be used on scholarships beginning this spring.

“The remaining $20,000 dollars, often we apply for grant funding for grant funding for various projects around the school. And some of those grants require matching donations, and we talked to them (Sikh community) about being able to leverage that very generous donation, and instead of turning it into $20,000 dollars to turn it into 40, or 60, or 80.”

He says a new kiln for the arts program is at the top of their list. “And it’s a piece that is expensive enough that some years we may not be able to afford it in our regular budget, so we’re lookin at a kiln. We’re also looking at doing a little supplemental purchasing for our music department, we’ve had a history of some really vibrant musicians come out of Clearwater Secondary.”

The Clearwater Sikh community also gave another $10,000 to the local Raft River Elementary School.

Coates says the community was floored by the donations announced at last week’s council meeting.

“A lot of the members who were at the council meeting, they had children who attended Clearwater Secondary and graduated there, and had deep connections with our community. We’re super appreciative.”