Erin Bruchet and her family wanted to try something different—just for a term of the school year.
Based in the Lower Mainland, they had purchased a recreational property in Bridge River Valley five years ago. But, they wondered, what if they lived as locals for a little while?
“We had visited the school before COVID and we were blown away by the school and Anna [Driehuyzen, the sole teacher] and the small group of neat kids,” Bruchet said.
The wheels were already in motion when the pandemic hit and, suddenly, moving to a more remote location seemed even more appealing.
“It was like a sanctuary to come up,” Bruchet said. “It was super protective to be a family unit in nature in a place that was already a refuge for us as a family—a place to unwind. It was also protective from the larger impacts the pandemic had on children and youth. We see that now, not dealing with a larger institution and vibration of peers who were worried and scared.”
For her part, Bruchet dialed back her work as a therapist, but was still able to work remotely. She also found the time to launch a new project called Tenderwoods, in which she creates handcrafted items specially curated—with a therapeutic element in mind—for life transitions, struggles and celebrations. (More at https://www.tenderwoods.ca/new-page.)
But what stands out for her, her husband and two kids—Beatrice who was in Grade 4 at the time and Henry who had started Grade 1—looking back is the multi-age, one-room school experience at the Gold Bridge Community School.
Bruchet credits much of the school’s unique and welcoming nature to Driehuyzen.
“I came from big schools that regularly had 20 to 30 kids in any kind of class I ever taught,” Driehuyzen said. “So this has been a nice little change. It’s a wonderful situation. There’s lots of potential, lots of possibilities. You have more flexibility, you’re much more agile. You can take on different things.”
Driehuyzen, who has been a teacher for almost 30 years, moved from North Vancouver to take a job as the area’s only teacher at its only school seven years ago.
During the height of the pandemic the school had 10 students enrolled, ranging from Grades 1 to 8, though they were recently approved to go up to Grade 9. (After that, students must travel to Lillooet or elsewhere for high school.) This year, they were looking at three to five students, though there are more little children “waiting in the wings,” Driehuyzen added.
That small size allows her to tailor the day to the students. If the group seems restless, for example, she has the ability to decide on an afternoon of riding bikes or cross-country skiing.
“Being in nature as much as possible is the most excellent thing for children,” she said.
But, of course, there’s also structure to the school day. Drawing on her experience teaching at Waldorf schools, Driehuyzen often picks a theme to study for a period of two to four weeks. “If it’s a history theme or botany or science or geography, the first couple hours are devoted to that,” she said. “We also do a lot of something musical, something movement wise, whether that’s going for a run or skipping or practicing juggling—a lot of activities that bring us into our bodies.”
But, she’s a big believer that “we undervalue the importance of play for young children.”
Multi-age teaching comes with both challenges and benefits, she said.
“The make up of this little group is really a sweet group of kids. The older ones, in a way, if they’ve come along with you, they can be nice role models. They can really be part of helping the younger ones and the younger ones look up to the older ones and often imitate them, even in the quality of their work. It can be sweet,” she said.
For Bruchet, it was the memory of winter activities the school did together that stands out.
“The kids got to go cross-country skiing at the school and I got to be part of that as a parent helper,” she remembered. “It was so, so spectacular to be out cross-country skiing with your school group on a lake on the most exquisite, pristine day. Winter is now in my kids totally differently than going up Grouse Mountain.”
She would recommend a semester—or school year—at the school to anyone. “We’ve met a bunch of interested Lower Mainland families,” she said. “We’re promoting the school as a place you can get away from it all. We think that school is very, very special.”
Driehuyzen also said that short-term students can be beneficial to the school community. “It enhances the whole experience really,” she said. “If families come for a term, or a month, that’s great. All those things are possible. We embrace that. It helps with the social aspect of the classroom and that’s a great thing.”