BULYEA, Sask. — “This community is fabulous…it’s so supportive. As soon as people found out we were doing this project it was all hands on deck and everybody supported us. The list of people that supported us is huge, and all local supporters.” says Justine Wheeler, principal of Bulyea Elementary School.
Wheeler was commenting on the support of Bulyea Outdoor School.
The pre-K to Grade 6 Bulyea Elementary School has 64 students who will benefit from community support in the further development of their outdoor school.
“Outdoor education is the opportunity for students to learn from the land. It’s taking our learning from beyond the walls of the school,” said Wheeler.
“It helps create a sense of place in connection to the natural world, students [gain] respect and they develop stewardship for our planet.” She said kids learn about embracing nature and learning how to take care of the area and the planet.
“Iif we are building stuff out of sticks we don’t break the trees. So, we talk a lot about environmental protection as well.”
Students can learn across the curriculum, tying indigenous education into it. Wheeler said all of the teachers have been creative with getting the kids outside.
“We are trying to create a nice outdoor space for us to learn,” Wheeler says.
There are picnic tables, benches with flower pots, and garden boxes. The school has been raising money for a gazebo.
“So the kids can be out there, learning hands-on; they can be doing experiments, observing nature, and really learning from the land.”
“The [grade] five and sixes, built these huge shelters in the bushes. They had to go around and find sticks laying on the ground. They either built a lean-to, a teepee or a tent structure. They are quite sturdy. We’ve been out snowshoeing and looking for animal tracks and exploring what’s living in our area.”
Horizon School Division has a Superintendent of Indigenous Education and an Indigenous Coach who has helped the school connect with an elder. Wheeler wrote in a letter about the program, “By integrating traditional ecological knowledge, language, and culture into the curriculum. This will allow our students to learn from and about Indigenous cultures and perspectives, which is an important aspect of reconciliation and understanding.”
“We found out we have a bunch of sage growing on our playground. So we had an elder come out and talk to us about that and they set up a huge teepee out there. So we did teepee teachings, so we are just spending a lot of time learning outside.”
“We are learning about the medicine wheel and how nature helps us balance our medicine wheel. We are learning about the four traditional medicines; tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and cedar” Wheeler said the kids had played many indigenous games. One of those games was learning about the fur trade. “Instead of handing them a booklet they get to get out and experience it.” She said being outside allows kids to experience teaching rather than just reading about it.
Donations have come in from individual community members, businesses, and municipalities and at a recent RM of McKillop meeting, Councillor Howard Arndt said he donated $1,000 towards the project. The RM followed suit, donating $1,000. The school had a jerky and a plant fundraising which were also successful. Now that they’ve reached their fundraising goal, they have put the gazebo up for tender and hope it will be in place before the end of the school year.
“Bulyea school has wonderful staff and an SCC (School Community Council). We are looking forward to being able to use the space and have the community use it as well.”
