On the hundredth day, 100 years since Boston Bar’s school opened its doors, students and teachers gathered in the gym for a celebration.
The school in the Fraser Canyon community of Boston Bar certainly had something to celebrate last Thursday.
In a town which has weathered economic downturns and industries leaving town, as well as shifts and changes in the number of students and grades taught, the school itself has remained.
Teacher Michele Dekok led the Grade 7 to 12 students in the creation of a massive timeline spanning the 100 years the school has been open, with the end product physically wrapping around the walls of the school gym.
“Until you put it on the walls, you don’t really know what 100 years is, of history here. And I’ve been here for almost 20 of those years, which makes me feel old today too,” she said with a laugh.
Dekok has seen the school shift from close to 100 students in Grades 5 to 12, to the current 60 students from kindergarten to Grade 12.
“Since I’ve been in the building, I’ve taught every grade in some form or another, but not K to 2 as a class.”
After looking to see what other schools had done to celebrate their centennials, Dekok realized there were few schools that had reached the milestone.
So instead of following others’ lead, her class decided to start their own living history project in September.
Grade 8 student Winifred Boake said the Grade 7s to 10s spent over 100 hours working on the timeline project.
The students had a block each week dedicated to creating the timeline, charting 100 years of inventions, world events and more.
They also interviewed former students and community members.
“Transportation, inventions like toys, world events, wars, everything under the sun – we put it on the timeline,” Dekok said.
“I think some of my favourite ones are the cars, because I’m really into classic cars and transportation, music delivery. I like history.”
Dekok said her classes got so excited about the project that one student was even temporarily blocked by Facebook for sending too many invites to community members the night before the event.
Memory tables were set up in the gym where community members could relive their memories of the school through old photos and yearbooks.
They were also encouraged to share their memories of the school and where their lives have since taken them.
On both Thursday and Saturday, the entire school put on a celebration for community members. The Boston Bar Warriors Dance Troupe opened the celebration, led by Jenelle McMillan, followed by old time songs performed by the K-2 class and the school choir.
The Grade 3 and 4 class danced their way through the decades, with the help of popular songs such as the Village People’s YMCA, Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and finally Walk the Moon’s Shut Up and Dance With Me.
Principal Lisa Oike, who started at the school in September, said the big event couldn’t have been pulled off without the community that surrounds them.
“Everybody’s worked so hard to come together and it really reminds me how lucky I am to be a part of this community. Because it really takes a community to raise a child and you see it in these events,” she said, adding the school is lucky to have family members and community members connecting with staff to form a community.
Former principal and teacher Don Walmsley first came to the school in 1969. Over the 30 years as principal and teacher at the school, he has seen it become a lot smaller, as the railroad and mill stopped employing people from the community.
“For everybody, a school makes it possible to find out what you can do with your life. Not everybody is the same, and it gives you some idea as to what is possible,” he said.
