Article appeared in the Oct 13 issue of the Interlake Spectator…
Last spring many residents from Little Saskatchewan First Nation, situated 217 km NW of Winnipeg, were forced to evacuate due to flooding. One-hundred-and-fourteen people from that community found temporary accommodations at Misty Lake Lodge, north of Gimli. Seventy-six of them were children. Because of the evacuation, the children could not complete the 2010/11 school year. Once they arrived in Gimli, supports were not in place to transition them into classrooms.
The evacuees have remained at Misty Lake Lodge all summer, and will remain there for the foreseeable future. However, the children are now finally able to attend school. Twenty one are enrolled at Gimli’s three schools, Sigurbjorg Stefanson Early School, Dr George Johnson Middle School, and Gimli High School, in grades ranging from grades K to 11.
Evergreen School Division had put in extra supports at the start of the current school year, such as educational assistants in each school “to get them going”, said Assistant Superintendent, Roza Gray, and help the students adjust. The students appear to be doing well and no issues have arisen, she said at the Oct. 5 school board meeting.
