Canon New Zealand came to the school to gift it $5000 of camera equipment and cash for winning the company’s Oceania Grants community award.
Principal Greg MacLeod said the school was very grateful to have won the award and subsequent prizes.
The money and equipment would contribute to its goal of constructing a three-dimensional model or sculpture of Broad Bay and Otago Harbour that would connect to the recorded oral histories of local people through QR codes, Mr MacLeod said.
"This really solidifies the project ... we’re one step closer."
The school submitted an entry for the grants outlining the idea earlier this year, and was named as the winner in the community grants category.
The school was one of only three finalists nationally and the only finalist in the South Island.
One of the school’s past pupils, 94-year-old Anita Wates, who attended Broad Bay School in the 1930s, was present yesterday as the prize was handed over.
Mr MacLeod said the project would bring her stories from the school and others to life.
It was hoped a local Maori artist or sculptor would be involved next year to design and begin creating the structure.
Next year, the school would apply for community grants from organisations such as the Dunedin City Council
and Creative New Zealand, to make the final project a reality in 2022.
