Project Profile: Campbell River School District 72 Child Care Spaces

Melinda Gaberel, Principal of Early Years and Child Care at School District 72 (SD72) in Campbell River, BC, Canada wanted something different when sourcing new learning furniture for her organization’s child care spaces.

“I knew Natural Pod would be my number one choice for what we would use. It’s the natural wood, the design, the sturdiness of the design and knowing the quality of the materials used. My husband’s a woodworker so I knew when I showed him what it was. It was very well made, well designed, and durable.” – Melinda Gaberel, Principal of Early Years and Child Care at School District 72

For the seven sites SD72 needed to open, Melinda’s vision was driven by the Early Learning Framework and the First People’s Principles of Learning—“keeping it as natural and as close to the outdoors as I could so that it’s a place for children to explore.”

Two of the Natural Pod team, including our CEO, Bridgitte Alomes, paid an on-site visit during the planning stages of the project. Melinda recalls that “Bridgitte’s enthusiasm and vision was so evident and so clear, it was like she had read my mind and then she took it further with what she saw.”

Our team at Natural Pod is delighted to hear that the children there are making the learning environment their own. They’ve been transforming their Natural Pod Imagine: Play Stands into a store, craft fair market, and girls club, and “they brought all their puppets into the stand and they were hanging them off the arches so that you went in and it was their zoo.”

We love that we could support Melinda in seeing the vision she had come to life. Even one of the helpers putting the new learning furniture together—and who happens to be a custodian—said, “I see your vision. I love cleaning those spaces.”