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Rocky Mountain Goat Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Your best source for weekly news and views in the Robson Valley
Volume 1 Issue 3
Community members protest Dunster school’s lock-up Monday Laura Keil lkeil@therockymountaingoat.com After 94 years, students spent their last day at the Dunster Fine Arts School on Monday, but some area residents ensured the school grounds were occupied a little longer. The protesters say they have no intention to leave until a deal is reached with the school district to keep the school open for local education. Some 30 people arrived by 4 p.m. on Monday to protest the closure of the two-classroom building, and several stayed overnight in the gym which was left unlocked. They had originally intended to prevent the lock-up of the classrooms, but teacher Joel Zahn locked the doors by 3:30 Monday, before most people had arrived. Julie MacDonald, the parent who organized the sit-in, said they will continue to lobby to keep the building open for the people educating their children in Dunster. “I don’t think anyone’s willing to give up this school – the actual school building.” The Dunster PAC was dissolved today with the closure of the school, but some community members say they are founding a new group called the Dunster Community School Association with money fundraised for local education. MacDonald says the next step may be to protest in front of the Minister of Education’s office in Vancouver. “We’re just asking to keep the building, which isn’t asking too much, seeing as it’s sitting here anyway, empty, with the heat on,” MacDonald says. Last Thursday several hundred community members gathered for a fare-
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Laura Keil The Dunster Fine Arts School student population has dwindled, but supporters say its focus on fine arts, small classes and local building are a valuable part of the community.
well celebration of the school. After the potluck, the students sang a song they wrote with their teacher. The song included memories of playing outside, getting stung by bees, making art and how everyone at Dunster school knew each other’s name. Principal Kairyn Jeneke stood by the wall as each student added their memory to the song. After it ended she clapped and seemed to choke back tears. Aeron Williamson an educational assistant at Dunster school says it has been an emotional time for both staff and students. “There are tears and it’s hard. It’s hard for us trying to hold it together but also
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acknowledging that it’s ok to cry.” “They’ve said they’re sad that the school is closing and they’re worried about their friends and where they are going to go, and their parents don’t know.” Williamson’s family is moving to McBride. Her son Owen finished Kindergarten at Dunster school and will begin Grade 1 in McBride. She says the commute is 45 minutes by car to the new school from their current home. “He’s only six, so it’d be way too long,” she says. The children showed off some of their work from the three-day arts festival at
the school last week: photographs, willow art, drama, song writing, and other arts. Some of the visual arts were on display in the gym and in the school hall. Terri Lewis, mother of students Jessica and Derrik Lewis, both 12, says her grandson would have been the fourth generation to attend the school. Her two other children, Joanna and Lorrie, went to this school from kindergarten to Grade 7. She says it’s sad to see the school close down. “We’ll lose that sense of belonging, because the school is the centre of anything that goes on,” she says.
Cont’ A2
New regional park in the works