The Lower Similkmaeen Indian Band celebrated the culmination of two decades of work, through multiple councils and staff, with the official grand opening of the band's new nta虂m艂q蓹n snm'a?m'aya?tn School.
Aug. 25 opened with prayer and drum song, as members of the LSIB past and present, local families, elected officials, and representatives from provincial and federal agencies gathered to celebrate the school's opening.
Students had already had a chance to go inside for their spring term, but the celebration was the first chance many of the gathered dignitaries had to tour inside.
"It's all about the kids," LSIB Chief Keith Crow, whose own granddaughters will be going to the school in the future. "Jan. 3, I came in early that morning to see the kids as they entered with their parents, and just to see their faces, that was payment enough. This is more than just learning, it's bringing a sense of pride of having their own place in how they can all say they went to school here."
The permanent building wouldn't have been possible if the LSIB hadn't begun laying the groundwork more than 20 years ago. In 2003, the band's council of the day and staff applied for the school, and got established with temporary buildings down the slope from the new location.
Those temporary structures weren't designed to last, and problems grew with them, from rodent issues, to one instance where a lightning strike hit one of the buildings and arced through it, tossing a child touching a wall backwards.
That incident was replayed in dramatic fashion for provincial and federal officials who were asked to visit the school during a push for priority by the LSIB.
"That was when we decided to fight for a new school," said Band Coun. Janet Terbasket, who holds the LSIB's education portfolio. "We went down to Indigenous Services Canada, and we told them to come here, and tell us that they would put their kids in this school. True to their word, they did come, they did go to the school, and we went to first in line."
ISC provided over $11 million and the Ministry of Child and Family Development provided another $2 million of the school's total $13 million cost, a far cry from the original $4 million that was being projected when the band began pushing for the facility in 2018.
The new facility is built with the future in mind. Shortly after ground was broken for the project in 2023, the band looked at the numbers and decided to add two additional classrooms.
The prescience may pay off sooner than expected; the school's enrolment has already picked up dramatically, with a 50 per cent increase anticipated for the 2026-27 school year.
That would still leave plenty of room to grow, as the school aims to keep classes at around 15 students.
"That is the sweet spot for us," said Stuart Krestell, the school principal. "That would allow us to go up to 85 students."
The school isn't limited to just members of the LSIB either, as it already has other members of the community enrolled in the program.
"When we have more multi-cultural people come to our school, more people learn our culture, our language, our ways, the more they'll understand us," said Crow. "The more we can share, the stronger we'll be in the future, and the better our relationships will be all around."
The work on the school isn't finished yet, despite it opening for students in the spring.
Along the floor of the school's main hall, an artistic rendition of the Similkameen River snakes through, and the plan is to add local place names to it in the future.
An art piece currently hanging in the 琉璃神社 Art Gallery is also set to come to the school, after the artist reached out to the band to donate the piece.
On top of the Kindergarten to Grade 5 classes, the school will also be the site of a daycare program, filling another major need in the community.
The band thanked Iredale Architecture, who designed the building, Yellowridge Construction Ltd., the main contractor, and all sub-contractors who contributed to the project.
