While wildfires burned through the Interior of British Columbia, smoke was one of the few indications of the fires burning farther north for residents of the Lower Mainland.
Still, one elementary school in Vancouver wanted to do something for their counterparts in the Cariboo.
Staff, students and parents at the Nootka Elementary School fundraised through a PAC bakesale to raise $535 to send to Horse Lake Elementary School, the last school in School District 27 to open following the devastating summer wildfires.
Because of evacuation orders and alerts, Horse Lake Elementary didn’t open until Sept. 12., a full week after school was set to open.
“They contacted us and they were doing a little bit of fundraising and sent us a video wishing us support,” says Horse Lake principal Ty Lytton.
The video includes a message from Nootka Elementary principal Richard Zerbe.
“We experienced just a little bit of the smoke that settled over the Lower Mainland but we know it was nothing compared to what you had to go through on a daily basis,” he says in the video.
“We just wanted to say, ‘We’re thinking of you.’”
The video ends with a group of students and parents saying, “We’re here for you Horse Lake Elementary.”
Nootka Elementary also had all of their students sign a couple of banners that are now hanging in the hallways at Horse Lake.
While the school has yet to decide what to do with the money, they want to give back to the community. Whether that’s through having a fun night at the school, taking a field trip to plant some trees, or heading their own fundraiser, the school’s PAC and students will decide.
Otherwise, the students of Horse Lake are sharing some of their experiences from the summer with the students of Nootka.
“Our Grade 7 class has written some stories we are sending down.”
They’re also looking at planning a video in response to the one sent by Nootka.
“It really demonstrates the generosity that we have in this province and it’s a nice reminder that even though we live up here in the Interior, that people down in Vancouver are still aware that there is a province past Hope and that we needed the support.”
Grade 7 student, Mackenzie Deforge agrees.
“I thought it was really sweet because they are worrying about us and they know we had a really bad summer since all of the wildfires. I am glad they are thinking of us and fundraising for us. It is actually really nice.”
Her classmate, Breanna Whyte, says it means a lot.
“We’ve had a bad summer and it brings the goodness in people to provide fundraising and this wonderful banner for the school.”
Lytton says it’s been a strange start to the year.
“Because we didn’t have students here when they were supposed to be here that was an immediate impact. There are certainly some families that have been affected a little more than others, but in the end, you know everyone’s managing.”
The disruption to the start of the school year was a little bit scary, says Deforge.
“I didn’t know when we were coming back to school, like a month or two, or weeks,” she says. “I felt very scared.”
Another Grade 7 student, Maddy Vanderkooy, says that while it’s been a rush catching up on everything since Horse Lake was able to open to students, the donation from Nootka Elementary is well appreciated.
“I thought that it was very nice of them to give us money and fundraise for us because a lot of people need it.”
Lytton says teachers have been working hard to provide a minimum amount of disruptions to the school year and keep things on track.
The Grade 7 class is headed to WE Day in Vancouver on Oct. 18 and plans for the rest of the school year are well on track.
The donation from Nootka Elementary is a welcome surprise.
“Everyone, the PAC, teachers, the Grade 7 class, watched the video. They’re all really impressed by their generosity,” says Lytton.