After approximately 40 years, the Campbell River School District has a new logo. It was unveiled at the Oct. 15 school board meeting.
The new design was created by First Nation artist Curtis Wilson (Mulidzas) and features a salmon encircling a salmon egg.
According to a SD72 press release, “the salmon is an important symbol for the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations and represents dependability and renewal, the importance of family, friendships, strength in numbers, and the many different types of salmon represents the diversity of School District 72 schools.”
Wilson was asked by the board to create a design that “embraced the natural environment of our area, reflected the strength of our district’s relationships with the Indigenous peoples that reside within this territory and conveyed a sense of belonging for all.”
The logo was presented to the school board by Jennifer Patrick, logo project coordinator and district communications officer. Wilson was unable to attend the meeting due to illness.
Patrick unveiled the logo, which will have two layouts; the vertical layout will be the most common, with the horizontal layout appearing when there is more space for it.
“As a First Nations artist, there is significance and intention behind every element of Curtis’ design,” said Patrick.
The salmon egg in the middle of the design represents children and future generations.
“It’s encircled by the salmon to symbolize the care, guidance and responsibility that the board of education and district staff are entrusted with,” said Patrick.
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The logo design has been in progress for about six months.
A revamp was pitched by superintendent Jeremy Morrow during an April 9 school board meeting.
“This is really an opportunity, as we look at rolling out a new strategic plan, to renew… refresh with a logo,” he said.
The district plans to release the new strategic plan shortly.
Trustees were presented with multiple drafts of the new logo and trustee Kat Eddy expressed her thanks at the thoughtful options Wilson provided.
“It took us a long time to collectively decide on this logo,” she said. “His work in general was just stunning and really, really spoke to Campbell River and reconciliation and that it’s important to all members of our community.”
Trustee Daryl Hagen said the timing was perfect to unveil the new logo.
“We’re coming up to our first year (on the school board),” he said. “We’re coming up with a new design that has grown on me. Tonight as it was presented, I thought, yes, that can represent all of us in our community. I think it’s tremendous.”
The former logo was a “7” and “2” stylized as a boy and girl.
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“I think that our former logo served us well and was wonderful for its time,” said trustee Joyce McMann. “I think the emotional strength of this logo is one that I feel better reflects the emotional intention and values of our district. I think we’ve made a wise transition.”
The logo will be rolled out through a phased adoption, with electronic elements getting updated first. Items like stationary will be changed as they run out of old stock.
The logo story will also be translated into traditional language by language and culture teacher Emily Aitken with help from Deborah Martel, district principal of Indigenous education. The story and the new logo will be framed and displayed at the school district office.
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