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Early School Days in the Bulkley Valley
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by Tammy Lipke
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| The earliest school records in the Valley are from the turn of the century. The first settlers were very skeptical about the need for education, especially over the more pressing matter of survival. One parent from Evelyn, west of Smithers, is quoted as saying in 1920: " We didn't have the cash to buy such things as a new school coat, every time there was cash in the family, there was always a threshing machine to buy."
Most families embraced the idea of modern education to create a better life for their children.
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Schools had registers (circa 1920), and kept accurate sign-in records of any visitors during the course of the year
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There is no definite record of precisely when and where the first school in Smithers was opened. In the beginning, circa 1913, schools operated out of homes. By about 1915, it became clear that the need was greater.
There is disagreement amongst the old-timers of the valley, as to where exactly the first real school in Smithers opened. According to most, the class was held in a building located on Main Street, where Dr. Weare's office was later located. The school moved soon after, however, to the Methodist Church, which at the time stood at the corner of Queen and Broadway. That first year, there were 12 children enrolled.
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