Students at James Thomson Elementary School in Wildwood celebrated a milestone as they paraded, danced and played their way into the Victoria Day long weekend. The school held its annual May Day celebrations on Friday, May 15, and it was the 60th year the school has done so.
Students dressed in the colours of their school house teams paraded or rode their decorated bicycles from the front of the school on Sutherland Avenue to the rear beside Joncas Place.
They were accompanied by pipers from the Clansman Pipe Band, firefighters from Powell River Fire Rescue, local dignitaries from City of Powell River and Powell River Board of Education and
a row of classic cars.
Tla’amin (Sliammon) Nation elder Phil George opened the ceremonies with a prayer and welcoming words.
School principal Jasmin Marshman greeted the community and acknowledged that much of what has happened at May Day over the past 60 years has been possible though community support. She remarked that the faces have changed, but family names remain the same looking back in the school’s scrapbooks, which have been collected over the years since the school opened in 1923.
“Looking back in those scrapbooks, we’re not the first group to make changes at this school and we hope that those changes are the right ones for the school, our families and community,” she said. “The only true test of that will be to see how many of these are still here when we come back to the school to celebrate the 75th anniversary of May Day in 2030.”
Jeanette Scott, school board chair, said James Thomson continues to be an exciting and dynamic place as it celebrates its traditions but also embraces development.
Students threaded the ribbon around the May pole, performed friendship and line dances as well as sang the Coast Salish welcoming prayer and the Canadian national anthem.
For the past few years the school has undertaken legacy projects including carving a welcome pole for the front of the school and a mural and carving art piece for the school’s courtyard. Marshman explained that this year the students, using a loom at the school, wove a new May Day cape for the school ambassadors. Each year two grade six students are chosen as school ambassadors. This year Shaya Stevens and Silas Hackett were bestowed with the title.
Councillor Rob Southcott spoke on behalf of Mayor Dave Formosa and city council. He told the students that he was excited to be in attendance and that the May pole ceremony brought back memories from when he was a student at Cranberry Elementary School. “Community is about working together, playing together and celebrating together and that’s what everyone here is doing today,” Southcott said. “This school is inspiring and is a leader in our whole community.”
