Invermere

Reflecting on this Community Field Experience, I know that it was not what I had originally hoped it would’ve been with the full-scale job action that occurred. However, we did get to spend 1 fantastic week at J.A. Laird Elementary, and 1 day at Eileen Madison Primary School. During that time, there were some amazing teachers and students that we had the pleasure of meeting. The teachers that I met were excited and open to sharing strategies that had worked for them over the years, however; it would have been nice for us to have the opportunity to offer them more of our own experiences/strategies – if we had the time. That week was valuable, only wish we would have had the chance to spend more time there.

Regardless, with the time we had away from school – there were lots of other educational experiences that we had the opportunity to engage in. Volunteering at the youth centre was great exposure for me with older children, visiting the residential school was an immeasurable experience, the pioneer museum made me realize how my perspective on my surroundings has changed with my “educational” eye, along with the many other little experiences we had over the past 3 weeks (visiting public library, summer literacy centre, community garden, musical out-post, arts-infusion, community sustainability, etc…).

Spending this time in a rural town has also opened my eyes to how different the feel of education is in a small town, in comparison to Vancouver. In Invermere, it felt more like a community educating the students; where as in Vancouver I felt a lot more removed from the community and parents, with everyone living very separate lives.

Overall, I thought that it was a great experience, it was in a beautiful town with wonderful people. I feel very fortunate to have had this experience.

Another highlight from this week was a visit we made to the Windermere Valley Museum! At first glance, I wasn’t sure that this quaint little pioneer museum would have much to offer… the buildings are all restored from when pioneers first settled in the valley, and have been re-located to one location.

The main building housed a lot of pioneer artifacts, as well as local First Nations artifacts.

It was really fascinating to view all of the artifacts, but it was also interesting because I noticed how my outlook/perspective on experiences has changed since completing my practicum and coming towards of the BEd program. While viewing all of these artifacts, different lessons, activities, and experiential experiences were coming to mind – ways that I could engage students in learning!

Then, continuing through the museum – the possibilities for lessons and experiences kept coming!

One of my favourite aspects was the old school house from Brisco (1906). It was very small and clearly extremely different to today’s school/classroom sizes! It was nice to see the style of desks, they even had an example of what a teacher would wear on a typical day. Such a great resource to have, and an opportunity for students today to have experiential/role-play scenarios from “pioneer days”.

An element of the school house that I was particularly drawn to, was the display of natural materials – the use of authentic and natural materials is something that I was quite passionate about in my daily practice, so it was really interesting and great to see that it was once something that used to be part of the education system. I think that there is no better way to give perspective and meaning to students, than to use authentic materials/examples, I think that too often people are drawn to commercial products because they’re ‘easy’… not for their educational and inspirational value to students.

Overall, this visit/experience to the Windermere Valley Museum was more that I had expected! It was a lovely place to visit, and the connections I made to my own teaching, as well as the realizations I made in regards to how I view things around me with an “educational” eye was really exciting!

A highlight from this week, was an educational experience we sought out – we contacted a gentleman named Gordie for a tour at St. Eugene, a residential school just outside of Cranbrook, B.C.

Gordie was a student back in the late 1950s at St. Eugene, and was one of the active members of the St. Mary’s First Nations Band (along with band members of the other 4 bands in the area) to transform the abandoned St. Eugene into a resort, golf course, and casino. The school was opened in 1912, and closed in 1970 – we were fortunate enough to spend close to 3 hours with Gordie, re-telling his experiences and those experiences of his friends and colleagues.

At the beginning of the tour, Gordie showed us this photograph – showing that First Nations people had clearly settled in the area before missionaries began constructing the school (the church was built in 1897). It was a really great way to help us visualize the space as it was as pioneers began settling in historically, First Nations lands.

The church is also still standing today…

We continued to walk down the hallways and Gordie explained to us how they had altered the building during the restoration process (he was a key member in this undertaking). Many of the old dormitories, used to hold 40 students – are now split into 2 rooms… to hold 1-2 adults per room…

Throughout the tour, he told us stories from when he was a student at the school; how a Father had pushed him down the stairs when he was in Grade 1, or how when he first came to the school, a Father had a line of  “Indian-kids” take turns beating him (because he was half First Nations, half European). Along with the heart breaking stories, Gordie also told us of daring feats he had accomplished while at the school; him and a few boys would often scale the walls of the school and sneak into a Father’s room through the balcony and try to sneak over him and out the door without being caught! All things that Gordie said were to keep them from going crazy, being cooped up at the residential school 10-months a year.

Gordie also acknowledged that while one particular Father attended the school while he was in Grade 1 through 4 before moving onto another residential school; that he [Gordie] has “blanked out” much of that time of his life because he thinks it must’ve been too difficult to deal with. However, from Grade 4 onwards – he remembers much of what went on at the school. Gordie was passionate about letting us know that not all experiences at residential school were negative, that sometimes they were quite positive; providing First Nations students with the opportunity to learn academics and pursue other careers. But, he also acknowledges that he was at residential school towards the end, when the stories about abuse and neglect had been surfacing – so he attributes that to not having such “negative” experiences at school.

We were fortunate enough to tour the barn, next to the school, that once housed a massive swimming pool that the children were able to swim in…

There was also a teepee and circle set-up outside the back of the school where First Nations people were welcome to spend time with their families and friends to celebrate, or to console one another after re-living traumatic experiences…

Gordie also managed to get a hold of a golf cart and drive us around the course where he pointed out the spring that they would need to collect water from and carry it back to the school, as well as the cemetery that was located right beside the school grounds.

This tour, and opportunity we had to speak with an individual who had lived through the residential school experience was truly invaluable. It is one thing to hear stories from films, conferences, seminars, or to read it in essays and books; but to speak with an individual and have the opportunity to have discussions and ask questions was something to be thankful for. Now I feel that I have a better understanding of the residential school system, and can actually put stories and accounts into a context and a setting.

One question that we did ask Gordie, was why did they want to do something with the school and the land? Why not just tear it down? Gordie responded with a quote from one of the 5 First Nations Band leaders…

This week, we spent most of our time at the Summit Youth Centre. The staff were so wonderful and I could tell that there was a very respectful and positive relationships between the youth workers and the youth that were present at the centre. At first glance, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the youth centre – there was a small sign indicating it’s location, not much to go off of from the outside…

Like a lot of youth centres, the centre is located in the community hall and easily accessible  by most youth living in Invermere – many of whom walk, skateboard, or ride their bicycles to the  youth centre.

Once we got inside the youth centre, I was truly blown away; there is a shuffleboard, a fooseball table, air hockey, and a pool table, along with leather couches, 3 computers, a massive 50″ T.V., karaoke, guitar hero, a full size kitchen… and everything was donated by the community. It was so fantastic to see that the community clearly supports this youth centre by making contributions to make it an ideal space for youth to go and hang out. I haven’t been to many youth centres in Vancouver, so it is difficult for me to make a comparison… but the impact of the community on this place was clearly evident.

A highlight from our experience at the youth centre was volunteering to help set-up and chaperone a Grade 7 dance. The initiative was started by a Grade 7 girl from Windermere, and the dance was held for all students attending schools in neighbouring towns; Radium Hot Springs, Canal Flats, Invermere, etc. because they would all be attending the same high school in Invermere this upcoming school year. It was very inspirational to see a young girl take initiative and create an event that would help build the foundation for strong peer relationships for the next school year, and for these kids to have some fun!

Building upon some of my observations from the previous week, I’ve noticed that the children and youth here are very well equipped in keeping themselves entertained by using  the materials that are around them. For example, the dance had a minor hiccup before it had began… the sound system was a bit late in arriving; but the students didn’t seem to mind at all! They began re-arranging the tables and chairs and created an obstacle course to go through in partners, or used streamers and began their own limbo game. While this was happening, I was wondering if youth in Vancouver would have had the same reaction. I wonder if this imaginative “play” is related to the possibility of less structured play as children, growing up in a rural environment. Whereas in Vancouver, during my practicum I noticed that a lot of my students were playing Pokemon cards, or games on electronic devices; they were lacking a lot of the imaginative play that is very important for young children – if we had more exposure to primary aged children during this experience, that would have been something I would be interested in exploring.

In conclusion, this week was a great educational experience for myself; spending more time with youth has opened my eyes to ways they interact, build relationships, and differences in communication as opposed to the primary focus that I am used to.