Sustainability teacher Adam Robb said the purpose of the film and the trip is to encourage youth engagement in Slave Lake.
“What our kids have learned is what real youth engagement is,” said Robb, referencing their experiences working on the high school design last year. “What it means is at least putting some of their ideas into action and walking them through the process and showing them how their ideas are making a difference. That makes a huge impact on the kids that take part in the process.”
So, one of the students’ goals is to make a film that shares the perspective of Slake Lake youth with the developers working on the community’s rebuild.
“We’re going to see if what they’re doing matches up with what the youth see as the vision for their hometown,” said Robb.
The sustainability class undertook a similar project in Barriere, B.C. in 2011.
“Barriere is a town that burnt down in 2003,” said Robb. “None of us knew a thing about Barriere, other than it’s a gas station on the way to Kamloops and Vancouver. But there is a real town, with a real school and real kids there.
“For our kids it was such an eye opener, the idea of losing your town, and also losing your main industry in one day.”
Following their 2011 trip, the students’ documentary was shown to Barriere’s town council and shortly after, a community youth council was formed.
“It had a huge impact,” said Robb. “It was very cool.”
The students hope they’ll have the same impact in Slave Lake.
Robb said the reason it’s so important to engage youth is not only because it empowers them, but also because they have a very different approach to problems than adults.
“They don’t see the Barrieres. They don’t see all the things adults have been conditioned to see.”
