New school projected to open in September 2020
By Rick Garrick
BIIGTIGONG NISHNAABEG—Biigtigong Nishnaabeg is looking forward to a new elementary school after the federal government announced $1.2 million for design and preliminary site work on April 12. Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada previously agreed to fund $11.2 million for the new elementary school.
“The community is right on board — they are excited about it, particularly the school staff,” says Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Chief Duncan Michano. “When we first started to plan this many years ago, we solicited the kids and the school staff…and asked them what they would like to see. A lot of those ideas came from the kids and some from the staff.”
The new school is designed to encompass the philosophy of the Seven Grandfather teachings. It will be situated in the east wing of the community’s planned Education Complex, which will be shaped in the form of an eagle protecting its young. A fly through render animated video of the building is located online.
“It will give [the students] a better environment for learning,” Michano says. “That old school was built back in the 1950s. There is no air conditioning, there is no air exchange in that whole building. The library is in the basement and a couple of classes are in the basement.”
The building is designed by Bret Cardinal, son of Douglas Cardinal. It will be LEED certified and include a variety of sustainable systems, including geothermal heating with radiant in-floor heating, solar panels on the roof to supply energy for the entire building, super insulated building envelope comprised of structural insulated panels and automated heating, cooling and lighting systems.
“It’s constructed so First Nations can actually build most of it themselves,” Cardinal says in a Biigtigong Nishnaabeg video. “When I design something, I understand the process of building is making sure that you’re making jobs and opportunities for First Nations first and you’re recycling the money as much as you can within the community to create jobs and opportunities.”
The west wing of the Education Complex will house an adult education and business centre and the centre will feature a gymnasium, cafeteria and ceremony space.
Construction on the new school is expected to begin in the Fall and the opening is projected by September 2020. The school has a projected enrolment of 135 students, from Kindergarten to Grade 8. The community has an on-reserve population of about 530.
“I was there yesterday to celebrate the sod turning,” says Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, on April 13. “It is really exciting for the community. The community 40 years ago decided to set for themselves a vision that kids would be at the centre of everything they did, and this is the next logical step — to build a new school that is designed with kids.”
Hajdu says the elementary school was “extremely crowded” when she visited the community after being elected as MP in 2015.
“Many of the kids had to go to portables for some of the classrooms,” Hajdu says. “What they wanted was to bring everybody under one roof in a safe place that would allow for kids to have access to the outdoors. They are building trails all around the school that they can use for hiking.”
Biigtigong Nishnaabeg currently requires an additional $4 million for construction of the Education Complex, which will cost about $24 million to build including the funding for the school. The community is located about 350 kilometres east of Thunder Bay.