The Jean Marie Joseph School is a Band operated
school which is not affiliated with any School District. Built
in 1994 the school is the center of the community where all workshops,
meetings, seminars and most community events take place.
The school offers instruction to approximately 20 pupils from
kindergarten to grade 9 using the BC Schools Curriculum as a
guideline with modifications for our special needs pupils. Our
pupils are divided into 3 small classes, primary, intermediate and secondary so that individualized instruction is possible.
For children under 6, there is a Head Start Program which acts
as the family daycare with approximately 8 children attending
on an occasional basis.
The Yekooche school has a computer room with 12 computers that
are connected to the Internet. Each class has scheduled time
in the computer room as do adult members in the community who
benefit from internet access time and the computerized instructional
programs.
The school provides a breakfast program each day for
the children. The kitchen
also provides meals for large community gatherings and other
events.
Success of the program has been amply demonstrated by four of
our students who have continued their education at Fort St James
Secondary School, two of which were consistent honor roll students
and graduated in June 2005.
Due to the isolation of our village and the lack of educational
opportunities we have endeavored to broaden our student's experiences
through the use of field trips and guest speakers. These have
included visits from the D.A.R.E. program (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) and tours of a pulpmill, forestry greenhouse and Exploration
Place in Prince George as well as trips to Rockness Ranch and Camp Living Water.
One of our most important school programs is our cultural program
which employs a Carrier language teacher offering formal instruction
to each class for 30 minutes each day. We are currently working on transitioning to a fully integrated Carrier School.
In September 2004 Yekooche implemented a community recreation program which includes a new weight room. This program has been very successful.
Future plans are to build a new recreation facility in the village. This
will provide our youth and other members of the community with
more opportunity to enjoy physical activities and promote the
benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
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