Page 4 par Patrick Witwicki e réve est maintenant une réalité. Une école francophone ouvrira ses portes bientdét dans la com- munauté de Smithers (eh bien, la vallée Bulkley en entier). A la réunion du samedi, le 23 février, le Conseil Scolaire Francophone (CSF) de la Colombie Britannique a voté a l’unanimité pour avoir une école francophone a Smithers pour septembre 2019. ACTUELLEMENT AFENO AVRIL 2019 Une école francophone pour Smithers! La décision est venue ex- actement une année aprés que le CSF a voté, en 2018, de ne pas procéder avec une école. “(En 2018) il y avait plus- ieurs demandes, mais (cette an- née) c’était seulement nous,” a Submitted photo Les parents de Smithers, le CSF, et AFFNO, ensemble le 15 avril 4 Smithers. De gauche: Léa-Marie Bowes-Lyon, Smithers; Marie-Christine Claveau, CSF; Fariba Daragahi, CSF; Sylvain Allison, CSF; Pierre Lecourt, AFFNO; et Marie-Eve Gauthier, Smithers. dit Marie-Eve Gauthier, porte- parole des parents de Smithers pour une école francophone. “On était trés content. Voyez “Une école” a la page 7. Smithers finally gets a Francophone school by Patrick Witwicki he dream has come true. A Francophone school will soon open in the community of Smithers (and the Bulkley Valley as a whole). During their meeting on Saturday, February 23, the Francophone School Board (CSF) of B.C. voted unani- mously to open a Francophone school in Smithers in Septem- ber 2019. The decision came exactly one year after the CSF had voted, in 2018, to not proceed with a school. “(In 2018), there were a lot of applications, but (this year), there was only us,” explained Marie-Eve Gauthier, spokesperson with the Smith- ers Parents for a Francophone school. “We were very happy, not necessarily surprised with the announcement, but surprised that the vote was unanimous. We never thought we would never get the school. So happy! Everyone was working for the Francophones.” Shortly after the vote in 2018, the CSF Chair at the time, Marie-France Lapierre, suggested to AFFNO to “try again” and that is exactly what the Smithers parents decided to do, instead of abandoning their dream. “The climate, the adminis- tration, everything was vague,” said Gauthier. “We were really sad, but we regrouped, did some research, and decided to keep on trying. We had lots of hope.” Lea-Marie Bowes-Lyon and Gauthier took over the reigns from Jason O’ Bright and Mela- nie Morin who had submitted the application for a school back in December 2017. But it was apparent that the CSF preferred to wait for the 2018 election, where a brand new Council was elected, including a new Trustee for the North (Terrace), Marie-Chris- tine Claveau. Ever since 1998, the only Francophone School that existed in the Northwest was in Terrace. This September, Smith- ers will become number two. (There is also a Francophone school in Prince George). Still, even after a posi- tive decision, there is a lot of work to do. After the vote in February, the CSF Secretary- Treasurer, Sylvain Allison, said, “There are maybe one or two locations that have been identified, and they both certainly require renovations, and they need to be ready by September.” Allison and Farina Da- ragahi, the Executive Direc- tor for CSF, visited Smithers for a meeting with parents on Monday, April 15, where they talked about the next steps necessary before opening the school. And indeed, location was number one on the list. See “School” on page 5.