Duclos School kicked off its centennial celebrations with a special assembly for current students and staff.
Around 500 students and staff packed the school gym for performances, a slide show, live music and a cake-cutting ceremony.
“We wanted it to kind of be a party celebration atmosphere,” said Richard Cameron, principal of Duclos. “I loved it because the kids were really excited to see it and we tried to incorporate a little taste of our school history into it with Ukrainian culture, First Nations culture, the Skipperoos, who have been a part of Duclos School history going back to the 1980s, and having a band which has former Duclos students in it.”
After opening words from Northern Lights School Division deputy superintendent Roy Ripkens, a group of drummers and dancers from Kehewin, including a Duclos student, performed a series of traditional First Nations dances.
“I like dancing fancy and I always want to do it every time, every year,” said Jesslynn Gadwa, a Grade 1 student who participated in the First Nations dance. “I like the gym and everything about this school.”
Duclos students that are members of Kryla Ukrainian Dancers also performed a cultural dance, followed by a performance by the Bonnyville Skipperoos and live music by the Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) band.
“I'm proud of Duclos and what it means to the community,” said Bonnyville town councillor Nestor Kunec, a former Duclos teacher. “We're a very inclusive school, we invite everybody to come to our school and we don't discriminate against anyone.”
Cameron also played a slideshow for the students that served as a timeline of the school's history in Bonnyville.
“Young children don't necessarily understand the flow of time and I hope that we gave them a feel for the importance of this school,” Cameron said.
Like many schools in rural Alberta, Duclos had humble beginnings. The school started out at a teacher's home in 1916, then moved to the old hospital building, before settling into a building of its own in 1928.
“I liked the part about the residential aspect of it, that the children didn't have any means to travel so they lived at the school and I know that some of them paid their tuition with farm products, some of them brought eggs, some of them brought butter and that's how they paid to come to school,” Cameron said of the school's origins.
As school buses became more common and the town and surrounding rural area began to grow, Duclos merged with the Bonnyville school division and a new Duclos was built in town. The first section of a new school was completed in 1954 and was located on the site of the current school on 52nd Avenue.
The new building saw several additions over the years, with the original west wing expanding to include an east wing and a gym in 1958 and 1959. More classrooms were added to the north end of the building in 1964.
From the 1950s and continuing until the end of the 1960s Duclos was a Grade 1 to 12 school, graduating many students over the years. Later when BCHS was built in the early 1970s Duclos would continue as a Kindergarten to Grade 9 school.
“The love and the caring of our students have remained constant throughout the years,” Kunec noted. “Sure the facilities have changed, the technology has changed, but the essence of education remains pretty constant.”
As the population continued to grow there was a need for a new building to be added. The new building was completed in 1993 and was attached to the east end of the old Duclos School. This modern addition continued to serve Kindergarten to Grade 9 students until 1995 when Duclos became an elementary school serving students from Kindergarten to Grade 4.
To mark the end of the afternoon celebration, students sang the old Duclos School spirit song and Happy Birthday, while a cake was cut to mark the occasion.
“Our school has grown, thrived and I hope that what we've maintained, especially as an elementary school, is the sense of community, the sense of family, the sense of history with our connection to the roots of Bonnyville and we're still offering a great educational program,” Cameron said. “What hasn't changed is the commitment of educators in the school.”
As part of its 100th birthday celebration, Duclos also has a community event planned for the Northern Lights School Division, former and current staff, students and community members on July 30 – 31.
