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Barbara Grinder
Schools function as the centre of the community in most rural areas in Alberta. Indeed, in some small towns and villages, the school is the only community institution remaining. As such, the school is more than a place for children to learn their ABCs—it's a place for the entire community to come together for social, cultural and political events, athletics, community meetings and adult education.
In a recent assignment, Emma Lowry and Stephanie Anderson, Grade 8 students at Rochester School, recognized the role of the rural school. "When a school is closed, you remove the heart of the community," the girls wrote. "Volleyball, soccer, badminton, basketball and other gymnasium activities become unavailable. Families move away and businesses are lost." Classmate Liz Maki noted in her paper that rural schools also help to teach teamwork, because younger students receive help and guidance from older ones and come to know each other better."
James Barfuss, a teacher at Hill Spring School in the southern Alberta village of Hill Spring, says his community went for more than 15 years without a school after their old one was closed in 1970. Like many other small communities in Canada, the village might have died altogether, had it not been for a strong church that served as a focus for community spirit and activities.
Hill Spring got its school back in 1987, when every family in the district contributed to the cost of building a new facility. Last year, however, the school was again threatened with closure due to declining enrolment. "The whole community supported our efforts to keep the school open, and we did get a commitment from the superintendent for another few years. But we're still the smallest school in the division, so it might be just a matter of time."
"If the school goes, a lot of other community programs might go with it," he adds. "Our school facility is heavily used for community activities like basketball tournaments, a badminton club and an annual book fair. Our Canada Day program is held there, and we have two 4-H groups who hold their meetings at the school."
Barfuss also notes that the school gives the community a distinct identity. "People feel they're part of a real community when there's an operating school," he says. "When kids have to travel to another town for school, parents and other residents are less involved in the school program and in the life of the community itself."
Barfuss's point about community involvement is well taken. According to several Canadian studies, rural schools are vital to community survival. As one study noted, "Schools are the spaces in which the next generation and the labour force are forming. If young people don't learn to recognize the place where they live as unique and worthy of their concern and effort, as historically, geographically and economically significant places, something at once greater than themselves and wholly dependent on their participation, they will leave and the community has little chance to continue or develop."
Photo by Yuet C. Chan
