Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A steady rotation of Princess Margaret Secondary students helped sandbag the Penticton Yacht Club on Monday.

Working in shifts, they filled bags and assisted with building berms to protect the yacht club building and parking lot from the rising water in Okanagan Lake.

"I think it's good for them to see what is going on in our community and pitch in to help fix it," said teacher Don Grant.

It was Grant, also a member of the club, who came up with the idea to bring students down to help.

Members who have been putting up protective barriers for weeks now welcomed the help with open arms.

"I've been getting up at 5 a.m. every day to turn on the pumps before a guy from the province comes and says how much the lake has gone up every day," said Fleet captain Bruce Merit "We are just trying to stay afloat and it's a tremendous help to have the students here working."

About 120 students worked in shifts Monday, with another 400 expected to pitch in on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I feel like our whole town needs to come together at a time like this," Grade 11 student Lia Ciancone said. "A lot of people don't have time in their day to do this, but we as students are able to."

Contractors are also continuing their emergency work on the breakwater at the marina, which was badly damaged in last week’s storm.

Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer