Community celebrates opening of new school

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Handshakes and congratulations were on the curriculum at Bell's Point elementary school near La Ronge on Oct. 24, as a large crowd of politicians, dignitaries and young children gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the Lac La Ronge Indian band's newest school. "This school has become a reality, where our children's children will come to be educated, and become leaders themselves if they so choose," said school committee chair Doris Morin.

The school, which opened in August, houses close to 300 children in preschool up to Grade 4. It was designed to take pressure off the band's neighboring Senator Myles Venne school (SMVS), located on Far Reserve, which has been overcrowded since the day it opened in 1993 as a preschool to Grade 12 school.

Ironically, Bell's Point is already operating with a portable classroom because it, too, has been full since day one. In response to remarks from Blair Carlson, associate regional director of the department of Indian Affairs, grand opening MC Robert Halkett expressed delight at the federal government's eagerness to co-operate on more major capital projects, because the band is already planning the second phase of school construction at Bell's Point.

For now, however, the band is focusing on "what is"-and it was clear at the grand opening that for "what is", there are a lot of people to thank. Among the names brought up were First Nations senator Myles Venne, the band's former chief and a strong advocate for band-run education; project co-ordinator Joe Campbell and the band's school building committee; Indian Affairs regional director Roy Bird, who was "instrumental" in bumping the Bell's Point school higher up on the department's capital projects list; and current chief Harry Cook, who was singled out by education director Gladys Christiansen.

"Everyone knows that if he (Cook) doesn't get a school when the community needs one," Christiansen said, "He'll say, 'To heck with the technicians, I'm going to Ottawa!'"

That, in fact, was exactly what Cook did. In January 1999, he and other band leaders went to Ottawa to meet with then-Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart. The band officials pressed Stewart to fund several projects, including a new elementary school, and she agreed to have Bird come to La Ronge and assess the need.

"All of us politicians gathered here, and even those in the past, can realize the value of education . . .. In order to gain what everybody else in Canada has, we need that educational background," said Cook. "With that, we can develop."

Cook also had a message for the students: "It's your school. Respect it. Don't do anything to damage it. And above all, continue coming here each and every day."

His words were echoed by Ray McKay, CEO of the band's business arm, Kitsaki Management, and also father of Bell's Point teacher Nolan McKay.

The senior McKay had the cluster of children at his feet repeat several statements after him: "I am good. I love my school. I will look after my school."

The space they are in is worth preserving. Designed by Obert Friggstad, a Saskatoon architect, the school radiates off a circular gathering area with low, comfortable benches and wall-mounted ceramic tiles decorated with student art and neatly-printed names of Bell's Point's teachers and students.

The school has a large gymnasium, a Cree culture room, a dental clinic, a cozy library/computer lab, a food servery, a multi-purpose room and a large playing field. The classrooms are brightly-lit, with plenty of windows and sloping ceilings that make the rooms comfortable and allow more room for displaying art projects.

"The students take great pride in their new school," said principal Patricia Charles, who expressed appreciation to the children and their teachers for showing "patience and understanding" in the transition from SMVS to Bell's Point.

"We all have to work together in making it the success that it can be," she added.