Blog Posts

School District #8 Kootenay Lake acknowledges Metis Awareness Month
SD8 Kootenay Lake celebrates and honours Metis culture, history, language, music, and art through the month of November. Please join us for Metis Awareness Month and learn about Metis Peoples in Canada, in BC, and what it means to be Metis. Bring resources into your classrooms that honour the heritage and culture of Metis Peoples. Below is a starting point to be shared with all staff in the district to support Metis Awareness Month 2023.

November 8th is a day marked to honour the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to the Canadian Military.

Dan Nanamkin, activist, mentor, story teller, musician from the Chief Joseph of the Wallowa, Nez Perce, and Colville Confederated Tribes visited four SD8 schools on the 17th and 18th of October. Along with his dogs, puppets, and many animal characters, Dan delighted students at Hume Elementary, Redfish Elementary, Rosemont Elementary, and South Nelson Elementary with traditional stories, language, songs, and inspiration.

This month, I want to share my gratitude for some unexpected gifts we have received in our district and in our schools through the month of October. 

Orange Shirt Day Assembly:

The hot and sunny days of summer have passed and have made way for cool mornings and beautiful coloured leaves. September has been a busy month with students returning to school and beginning their studies. The month of September is a time to reflect on the Every Child Matters movement. Students have been very respectful in honouring the children who attended residential schools across Turtle Island. There have been many honest discussions about how residential schools have affected Aboriginal people.

Welcome to the fall. You’ll notice that like the leaves on the trees in late-September and early October, this issue of the Superintendent’s Report looks a bit different than it did a few months ago. The stories in this report are now organized under our five strategic learning priorities from our Strategic Plan 2024-2029. These priorities are lifelong learners, connected learners, a caring and inclusive learning culture, culture and identity development and career development.

Welcome back to Aboriginal Education, 2023-2024.

A warm welcome to September and to the 2023-2024 school year. I am pleased to welcome every one of our more than 4700 students and each family whose child or children have embarked on what may be a first or a next chapter of their educational journey within School District No. 8 (Kootenay Lake).

This is an incredibly exciting month for students who may be entering a classroom for the very first time, or entering a new grade, a new program or a new school. “New” is a key word for so much that happens throughout September across our district.