Grade 6 student prompts government to install feral horse signs in Oliver B.C.


Grade 6 student Delia Graham has convinced the provincial government to help better protect feral horses in the town of Oliver.

After months of research, interviews, and surveys conducted by Delia, the government agreed to install more feral horse crossing signs in town.

“I chose this project because I value the life of everybody, and I believe everybody should have a chance to live a nice life,” said Delia Graham at Senpaq’cin School.

“It feels really good because I was getting a bit stressed seeing if I could get them put up or not and the signs should be arriving in the next month.”

Each year, grades 6 and 7 students at Senpaq’cin School are tasked with a large community project as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

Julie Shaw, Senpaq’cin School’s principal said students were given the opportunity to choose a topic that they are passionate about.

“Students have worked really hard to find something that they want to take action on to align with the IB mission and vision,” said Shaw. “As well as our own school mission and vision, how do we have a sustainable world and make it a better place for all to enjoy in the future.”

This year the projects were based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and of the 17 goals Delia chose number 15 called “Life on Land.”

“We call them the Global Goals. Each student picked one that really meant a lot to them and from there they found a community-based project that had to do with that goal,” said Senpaq’cin School teacher Jesse Martin.

Delia wasn’t the only student who made a significant difference in the community as eight projects were presented during Thursday’s student exhibition.

Students Quila Woodhouse and Rowan Mutambudzi presented their project on the Canadian water crisis on reserves.

“We wanted to raise awareness because it is a really big issue,” said Rowan. “Water is really important it keeps us alive, so we wanted to do our project on that.”

Grade 7 students Phoenix Batik-Michas and her partner presented a project about proper pet care.

“We focused on spreading awareness on pet care, we both love animals very much,” said Phoenix.

“We wanted to help animals because we’ve noticed a lot of misinformation surrounding pet care and just pets in general.”

Other projects that were presented included “The Benefits of Basketball” by Nico Faugno and Leeland George, “Grade Six and Seven Gathering Day” by Samera Gabriel, and “Supporting Local Women Shelters” by Mya Woodhouse and Teckla Eustache-Ingram.

Meanwhile, The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has agreed to add five new feral horse crossing signs. Three will be installed on Black Sage Road and two on McKinney Road.