A pair of Dunsmuir middle school students are being praised for doing the right thing after they found a diamond ring on their way to school last month.
Grade 8 students Taylor Funk and Avery Snook stumbled across the ring on March 16 and immediately brought it to Dunsmuir vice-principal Chris Smyth, to help figure out what should be done with it and whether it was real.
“Right away I thought this was fantastic, they could have just kept it. It had multiple diamonds in it,” Smyth said. “I called their parents to let them know how proud I was. The ring could be worth thousands of dollars and they were coming to me to say they found it instead.”
Smyth said the parents “lit up like Christmas trees” when he shared news of what the girls had done.
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“It’s a testament to the type of kids we have at our school.” And while this may be the most valuable possession a student has turned in after finding, it’s far from the first one.
“There have been many instances over time of kids doing the right thing,” he said. “I’ve had kids come to me with a toonie before after they found it … we have vending machines at the school and kids have bought a bag of chips and had an extra bag fall and bring that to the office.”
As for the ring, which Black Press Media is not describing in detail in order to ensure only the rightful owner is able to identify and claim it, Smyth said it was turned over to West Shore RCMP shortly afterward.
As of Wednesday, the ring had yet to be claimed, said Const. Meghan Groulx. Anyone able to provide police with an accurate description, purchase documentation or even a photo of themselves wearing the ring, would have it returned to them, she said.
“Imagine if the rightful owner had written it off as something they would never get back and now, maybe even years later, the joy that would be brought to that person because of these students’ action,” Smyth said.
“I think we have all lost something valuable in our lives before … the fact that kids’ first instinct when they find something like that is to come to the school to find someone who can help them return it is quite significant.”
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@JSamanski
justin.samanski-langille@goldstreamgazette.com
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