The topic I am writing about is school culture, general feelings, and climate. Rebecca and I are visiting Hazelton Senior Secondary for the first round of our observational practicum. On our first day after the bell, when the students finished homeroom, the principal, Mr. Boisvert, gave us a tour of the school. You could tell that he was very excited that the school had two former Olympians graduate from the school, and they still had the wrestling training mats that the gold medal winner used to train. He also loved carpentry, metalwork, and art, not the “standard” academic classes. The school’s primary demographic is First Nations students, yet, there is a lack of their culture represented on the walls or from what I could see.


Tuesdays at the high school are only two blocks due to the changes from Covid. In the morning, we were in grade 9 Science with Ms. Bob. While we were waiting in the staff room, Ms. Bob gave us a brief overview of her class and that half of the students were identified, but she had no help. She also explained that it is hard since up until grade 10, students get passed through each grade no matter if they pass or not, which makes it hard for classes that need a solid foundation before you can learn the next topic. Walking into the class, the atmosphere was somewhat stark, the first class in the morning students tend to be tired, but this felt like more than that. We asked her what she thought was the school’s culture, and she responded by saying that there is a lack of culture throughout the school. Not just a lack of Gitxsan culture but the “typical high school culture”. Ms. Bob has been at the school for many, many years, and she noticed that the school spirit has diminished, where before students would run from class to class trying to recruit for the yearbook or student council, now that is gone. She noticed a significant decline in these activities, especially since Covid. Current students could not watch former students run these activities since everyone had to attend school from home.


After lunch, we observed in Mrs. West’s grade 8 Humanities class for the second block. The atmosphere was different, not sure if it was because it was the afternoon and after lunch, but these students were energetic and animated. The class was learning about culture, what it is, and what it means to each individual. Mrs. West emphasized Gitxsan culture since that was the land they were learning on and the nation that most students belong to. When teaching the lesson, she would often refer back to Gitxsan culture as examples and emphasize the point she was trying to make, which I liked. That was something I never had when I went to school. She utilized movement a lot in her class. If the students were getting restless or struggling with their assignments, she would recognize this and take a small break. In the school, they were only allowed to give the students a 10-minute break, but I noticed most teachers did not follow this as 3 hours is a long time for students to be sitting in one course. When we asked Mrs. West what she thought the school’s culture was, she gave us a very similar answer to Ms. Bob. The culture and feelings of the school have declined most notably since covid, and the supports are not there to help the students, either with staff numbers or from home.


Overall, the general feel of Hazelton Sr. Secondary was that most were struggling, that even though they are mostly First Nations, there was not much culture infused in the school as a whole. On our second day of observation, we were in different classes with different teachers, and the vibe we got from them about the school’s culture, perceptions, and beliefs were similar to Mrs. West and Ms. Bob’s. They all love what they do and find it fulfilling, but they find it a challenging school.