It was a beautiful day May 31 for the Ditidaht Community School’s 10th anniversary celebration.
The school and community pulled together to organize a luncheon, inviting former students and teachers to attend.
Students demonstrated cultural dancing to open the event after a welcome from emcee Phillip Edgar. On the menu was delicious Dungeness crab, which the community has become known for, and ling cod donated by Ditidaht Fisheries.
It was a proud day for the community which had harbored a dream to have a school built ever since individual nations were moved from coastal areas to amalgamate on the shores of Nitinat Lake in the 1960s.
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Today, the spacious, inviting environment is home to provincial championship canoe paddlers, who currently are up with the birds in the morning to train for the North American Indigenous Games to be held in Regina in July.
Community historians were called upon to explain how having a school in the community has changed the critical learning years for young community members.
Ditidaht is accessible by a rough road used primarily for heavy industrial traffic, including a regular stream of logging trucks that kick up fine dust and gravel along some narrow passages. The road is prone to flooding in winter, which continues to make for some days caught in the community.
Before the school in Ditidaht was built, students were bused the hour-and-a-half one way to Port Alberni to attend classes. On the bus at 7 a.m. or earlier to return at about 5:30 p.m., the students bounced around in their seats for three hours each day, getting home so tired many would fall asleep before supper only to repeat the experience the next day and the day after that.
“I hated that bus ride,” said Vera Cook, adding it kind of made her not want to go to school.
Community historian Robert Joseph, a lawyer who began his schooling in residential school, said education for First Nations people generally has never been easy and is more a testament to determination and defiance.
He said students have to have determination to carry on.
“If you want it, you can take it,” he told the guests gathered in the gymnasium.
“You can never, never give up… Even if you think you can’t do it, never give up.” He struggled himself in school, running away and being at large from residential school for two weeks, but later devoting himself to learning, earning a master’s degree and going through law school, which he described as a “bloody nightmare”. But he did it, because he is Ditidaht.
Margaret Eaton sits as a member of the Ditidaht Education Authority because of her passion for the wellbeing of the kids. The DEA works to provide a safe place for students and staff and has recently published a Ditidaht School Policy Manual that has been worked on since 2012.
John Thompson Jr. said he worked in the school for two years and it was the best job he ever had, saying he was proud of the work of the staff and the accomplishments of the education authority.
Terry Edgar said it was 13 years ago when he answered a phone call from an architect who said the department of Indian Affairs had some monies for building schools and within weeks the school was in the planning stages. He said the community’s support of the school was important and he thanked everyone for attending the anniversary celebration.
Shelley Edgar, a parent of three graduates and a member of the Ditidaht Education Authority, described an interaction between her daughter and a teacher prospect. After the teacher had her interview in the community for the job, she had a chance meeting with the student.
“How long are you going to stay,” asked Edgar’s daughter. The teacher promised she would honor the job, but on the way home the roads were rough and treacherous, and the teacher was having second thoughts. Still, to the teacher’s credit, she came to work at the school, saying, ‘I’ve got to do this. I promised that kid.’
Among the guests at the 10th anniversary was Dave Maher, Ditidaht School’s first principal. Many said the community owed a debt of gratitude to Maher for setting a high standard right from the beginning. Parents said he would go to their homes when students were struggling to ensure the parents or guardians were kept on top of the issues.
Dorothy Shepard is the youngest fluent speaker of about six fluent speakers of the unique Ditidaht language left in the world. She works in the school with her daughter Debbie Mack helping to build the language capacity of the students.
“My passion is to keep this language going,” she said. It is difficult work, but more than worthwhile when she hears the children speak the language.
Debbie Mack said the language instruction is progressing well, and some of the children have learned as many as 250 phrases.
Jason Sam is a parent and a community builder with the school. “This school is awesome,” he said. “I am really blessed to bring my children here. Sam helped to present jackets with the school logo on them to instructors in the school.
At the end of the day, which included face painting for the children, Principal Sheila McKee, took cards and a disc with photos from the school’s history on it and put them into a time capsule that will be opened in 10 years from now. The cards had been on the luncheon tables and people were encouraged to write messages for the future.
Jolene Joe, Teacher Assistant for the K to 2 class, has been working at Ditidaht Community School for 10 years. She asked Ha-Shilth-Sa to deliver the following message.
“I love every minute of every day, getting hugs and smiles every day. Couldn’t ask for it any other way.
“I would like to thank my late mother Anne Joseph for all she brought me to be in this world, because I followed her footsteps into wanting to work with children. It’s my passion and I’m very dedicated to everything my job brings… C’mon DCS. Three cheers for the next 10 years. It was a beautiful day, thanks to the cooks and all who traveled, near and far. Kleco, kleco.”
