The first school for special needs children in B.C. was likely established in Prince George in 1958 and one UNBC history student wants to talk about it.
According to Rachael Holmes, the Aurora School, built in Prince George during the Sun Rise to Sun Set event (a one-day build) on June 21, 1958, was the first of its kind in the province. She conducted extensive research on the subject, inviting former teachers, staff and students to talk to her about their experience at the unique school.
“I thought I would share this beautiful story about our town being one the most progressive communities in the province to help potentially raise more awareness on how important it is for the town to become more involved in these matters,” Holmes said.
Holmes, who also works as a behaviourial interventionist with a group of children on the autism spectrum, said the discovery of how the Aurora School was developed in Prince George is a source of pride and a subject close to her heart.
Holmes started out thinking she’d be a teacher but as fate would have it her life’s journey led her elsewhere, working with special needs children one-on-one early on in her work life, while getting her history degree at UNBC.
“I thought I should learn more about that community of people because I was still thinking I was going into education so I could be a better teacher and resource when I got there,” Holmes explained. “The more I worked with autistic kiddoes the more I was curious and the more I was like ‘OK, maybe this is the way I should go completely instead of going into education’.”
The Aurora school, where Harwin Elementary is currently located, was created as a response to the polio epidemic when the disease was affecting children who were born healthy and then left with many physical and mental challenges.
The $15,000 fundraising effort for the Aurora school was done in a two-month span and there was a shortfall of $2,000 on the day of the build, Holmes said.
The concrete foundation had already been laid and then from 3 a.m. to 8 p.m. they built the entire school.
Holmes found the information mainly through researching The Citizen's digital archives and UNBC archives.
During the first year, there were 13 students and two teachers and it grew from there.
“The Aurora school was a beautiful place to send children at a time where most children with special needs were sent to asylums,” Holmes said. “I wrote the paper and want to make it available for people to read because I think special education for children is really important.”
For a potential masters thesis, Holmes is looking for first-hand accounts of experiences at the school from teachers, staff and students who were at the Aurora School.
“I think it would be amazing to give people an opportunity to speak about it,” Holmes said. “I think it was a beautiful project where the Prince George community came together - one resource quoted someone as saying ‘the reason Prince George could do this is because Prince George has a heart’ and that pretty much says it all.”
To contact Holmes email her at [email protected].
Check out her final paper with all the details about the Aurora School.
