By Cheryl Jahn

Secondary Educators In Town

May 18, 2018 | 12:08 PM

School officials from all across the North are in the city to talk rural education.
Whether it’s secondary education in McBride or in Prince Rupert, education in rural regions of the province is under fire, with things like declining enrolments and greater infrastructure costs
Educators from all across the North are meeting at UNBC to look at providing education at the secondary level a little differently. This two-day event is an opportunity to share best practices. 
“This event is an opportunity for rural school districts in the north to come together and share their innovations and support each other is seeing how rural schools really do innovate often more than those bigger schools,” says Dr. Leyton Schenellert, who organized the workshop. “Without each other to support and nurture, you often feel isolated.” 
One of the lessons learned from the event is that, in rural BC, education is a community affair.
“We’re absolutely noticing that,” says Dr. Paige Fisher with Vancouver Island University. “Everybody talks about the community and the relationships. So I think that most schools are already there. So we talk about this permeable boundary between school and community.”
They also are learning that, in Northern BC, the classroom is often outside of the school.