Marks rise at Sechelt school

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SECHELT-The Sechelt First Nation saluted 14 of their youth on Jan. 15, for achieving a place on the honor roll at the Chatelech Secondary School. The reserve school now is rated tenth on the list of most challenging academic schools in Western Canada, but it wasn't always that successful.

Chief Garry Feschuk told the assembly gathered to honor the students that community co-operation and support are responsible for the success of the school.

"It has taken a lot of hard work and involvement from our community, our Elders, band, resource people. Today we see the reward from all of the hard work of our resource people in our education department to make this special celebration happen. My personal goal is to increase the numbers of our young people on the honor roll in Chatelech.

Feschuk said when the community met to negotiate a local enhancement agreement, the principal, teachers and students were all involved.

"We wanted commitment from everybody who dealt with our Native students on a daily basis. We all made a compact of working together to increase the academic levels of our Native students with the rest of British Columbia."

He said to overcome the failure and drop-out rates of the past, they focused on building trust relationships and implementing a program in the core skill areas of reading, writing and mathematics.

That resulted in the students improving three grades in reading.

The chief said the first year there were discipline problems, but by the second year students were developing self-esteem, making progress and becoming involved in community service.

The First Nation will soon have its own representative on the school board.

The same proactive approach underlies their initiatives to provide work for students and graduates. The Sechelt band has negotiated an employment agreement with a mining company "on a 50/50 basis." They operate a McDonald's franchise which employs their youth, and they are developing plans to open a mall that will support Sechelt business owners.