Expanding educational opportunities

The St. Mary’s Band is working with ATCO Structures & Logistics Ltd. to build a new education centre

Students at the Aq’amnik School located at the St. Mary’s Band Village site north of Cranbrook. — Photo courtesy Becky Pelkonen

The St. Mary’s Band, a Ktunaxa Nation Community, is building a new school, and it will be completed before the next school year begins in September 2012. Called the Aq’amnik Education Centre, the new 10,000-square-foot building will be constructed next to the historic St. Eugene Church on the St. Mary’s Band Village site north of Cranbrook.
Currently, there are 50 aboriginal and non-aboriginal students enrolled in Kin-dergarten to Grade 7 at the existing Aq’amnik School and the building is at full capacity.

With the new Education Centre, the Chief and Council of St. Mary’s Band are planning to expand to offer additional grade levels as well as evening classes for adults. The new Education Centre will include a multi-purpose room, staff room, first-aid room, kitchen and several classrooms. The building has been designed so that a gymnasium and more classrooms can be added to it in the future.

The Education Centre is being built by ATCO Structures & Logistics, who the St. Mary’s Band has developed a formal business relationship with. ATCO has a long-standing relationship with First Nations across Canada and works with communities to meet their needs.

“With our accelerated schedule and tight budget, we were seeking a turnkey, scalable solution,” said Michelle Shortridge, the Band’s capital projects manager. “ATCO was a perfect fit for this project and we are looking to develop more projects in the future.”

According to Cheryl Casimer, Chief of the St. Mary’s Band, the business partnership was formed to increase the Community’s ability to compete in the market- place and increase its capacity in infrastructure and skills development.

The Chief further recognized the internal capacity of the Band’s capital projects team and commended her Community for placing such high value on education and learning. 

“This project is an important step for our Community, and the new education centre will provide our students of all ages a healthy, safe and inspiring place to learn,” said Casimer.

In a recent press release, Harry Wilmot, president and chief operating officer at ATCO Structures & Logistics, said that ATCO’s partnership with the Band will provide the foundation for many long-term projects.

“Together, we intend to create business and employment opportunities that will have a positive impact on the St. Mary’s Community and its people,” stated Wilmot.

Becky Pelkonen, director of community and economic development for the St. Mary’s Band, said the Community has already benefited from the partnership.

“It was through (ATCO’s) capacity that we were able to design a centre that met our needs within our budget,” said Pelkonen. “We are looking at many other infrastructure projects on the reserve and hope to export that knowledge and urban space expertise off the reserve as well.”

Better business values

The St. Mary’s Band is a vibrant Community whose members value family, unity, co-operation, respect, love and kindness, as well as education and learning.

Built upon a foundation of fairness and integrity, the Band’s community development corporation, which is called Aq’am Community Enterprises (ACE), was established to generate a sustainable and self-sufficient economy by optimizing com- munity and partner resources.

In addition to the joint venture with ATCO Structures & Logistics Ltd., the Band has formed business partnerships with several other organizations in the Kootenays. It has also partnered with a large network of educational and learning professionals.

According to the Band, businesses working with Aq’am Community Enterprises benefit from increased access to labour, services and business opportunities.

As it continues to grow and thrive, the St. Mary’s Band is seeking to form new partnerships with forward-thinking businesses and organizations in the areas of transportation, education, environmental management, recreation and infrastructure.

For more information on Aq’am Community Enterprises, contact Becky Pelkonen at [email protected].