Three-hundred teachers crowded into an auditorium at Canmore Collegiate High School Wednesday to kick off a new year and celebrate new relationships.
“How many are from Morley?” Chris MacPhee, superintendent of Canadian Rockies School, asked the group. A third of the room raised their hands.
It was the first time teachers from two different school divisions joined forces. It represents the birth of a new partnership that hopes to foster relationships between schools bordering next to First Nations communities; a $26-million initiative sparked by the provincial government last fall now taking shape.
“We are so close together and there’s so much we don’t know about each other, so having that ability is so beneficial to the students and teachers,” Carissa Matthews, acting principal at Nakoda Elementary School said.
Staff and students in Morley will now have access to resources and courses in Banff and Canmore and vice versa.
Everyone there agreed the initiative is about more than just academics; it’s about understanding and opening the door to close neighbours.