Qualicum Beach Elementary students name Salamander Pond

A pond near Qualicum Beach Elementary is getting a new name after a local teacher wrote to the town council informing them that the students voted to name it Salamander Pond.

Ashley Kuramoto is an outdoor education specialist at the school who often takes her class to the pond but never knew its name.

Eventually she called the town to try and get to the bottom of it and was told it was Contaminant Pond.

Aghast at the name, Kuramoto asked her students what they thought the pond should be called.

“I brought this back to my school, and we did a school vote. So over 300 students got to vote and they chose Salamander Pond."

Kuramoto wrote a letter to the Mayor and at the town council meeting on December 6 councillors voted unanimously to rename it Salamander Pond and erect a sign on the location.