Osoyoos realtor Eileen McGinn was among the volunteers handing out T-shirts to students at Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) Friday morning with the hashtag #OsoyoosStrong. The shirts were created by Jamie Elder of Unity Osoyoos, along with other volunteers. They are intended to show pride for education in Osoyoos. Proceeds raised from selling the shirts in the community will help to fund an independent community high school, which many in the community hope will fill the void left by the planned closure of OSS. (Richard McGuire photo)
A public forum is planned for Thursday evening to discuss moving forward with an independent community school for Osoyoos.
The forum will be hosted by the Osoyoos Community School Committee and will start at 6 p.m. at the Sonora Community Centre.
The meeting is intended to gather public feedback and provide information about an independent school intended to keep schooling in the Osoyoos community.
The committee is being spearheaded by Dr. Jason Bartsch, an Osoyoos dentist, but includes a variety of people from the community, including some with education backgrounds.
The initiative follows the decision by School District 53 to close Osoyoos Secondary School (OSS) as of June 30.
“We’re hoping to get everybody caught up on what the Osoyoos Community School Committee has been up to,” said Bartsch. “We’ll lay out some of the process that will need to take place and alleviate some concerns and anxiety for parents with respect to options for their kids in September.”
Meanwhile, volunteers handed out T-shirts with the hashtag #OsoyoosStrong to OSS students on Friday at the school. They had to stay off school property, but many students came down during their morning break to pick up shirts.
Jamie Elder, owner of Unity Osoyoos, who led the T-shirt initiative, said he and volunteers made 500 shirts to start out.
The shirts were given free to the students, but remaining shirts will be sold to the public to raise funds for the independent school.
People can pick up the shirts at Unity and several other businesses in Osoyoos for a minimum donation of $20.
“It’s a good initial fundraising effort,” said Elder. “Even more than that, it’s a show of unity within the community, that everyone’s on board with the new school.”
People are being encouraged to wear the shirts every Friday and also to post “selfies” wearing the shirts on social media, Elder said.
Some people have already posted photos of their dogs wearing #OsoyoosStrong T-shirts.
The Osoyoos soccer team was given shirts with their numbers on the back to wear during games, Elder said.
The shirt’s logo shows a fist clutching a pencil and that initially prompted some concern from school officials.
“I’ll just say that my phone was ringing quite a bit this morning,” Elder said Friday. “But things were worked out.”
Elder said the idea for the logo came from one used by Food Not Bombs, which shows a fist clutching a carrot.
“It was taken from a very peaceful origin and there’s no connotation of negativity,” said Elder.
He added that the image and hashtag for #OsoyoosStrong have been spread on social media and on the front page of the April 13 Osoyoos Times and he’s only received a positive response.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
