Parents and kids in Whapmagoostui are feeling better about the community’s school.
Last fall, they had complained about badly maintained and dangerous facilities, a lack of teachers and other problems.
Parents took matters into their own hands, reviving a community-wide school committee and asking for intervention of the Cree School Board.
A school board fact-finding mission to the community last month found a lot of improvement, said one member of the Whapmagoostui school committee, who asked to remain unnamed.
“There are more kids attending school. None of this would have happened without the parents’ concerns,” he said.
“I’m happy we opened some eyes.”
The father said most of the parents’ concerns have been addressed, including hiring of more teachers and fixing up the school. For the first time in many years, parents also held their first group meeting with teachers.
It’s a sharp contrast from matters at the beginning of the school year, when his daughter didn’t want to go to the school.
“She said she didn’t feel comfortable.
She said, ‘I feel scared in there,”’ the parent reported. “The windows were boarded up.
“There was no school committee in town. We didn’t know where to turn.”
The community’s renewed interest in the school has sparked calls from other Cree communities, said the father.
“There are other people in other communities who went through the same thing. We are sharing ideas as a nation,” he said.
“Parents should be more involved in the school. We need to support our children in order for them to continue education.”
