Life in the portable
Sir John's students, teacher give portable an old-fashioned feel

Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Yellowknife ( Mar 03/00) - An English teacher and her students have put a little bit of the country into the city.

That is to say, the portable used by Andrea Code at Sir John Franklin school since early January now features a distinctive old-fashioned, one-room country schoolhouse atmosphere.

"The country school to all of us represents a kind of family," Code said shortly after unveiling a country school sign Thursday.

"There's a sense of togetherness, a sense of caring," the teacher said. "You're together as a group. It kind of creates this rich tradition of long ago, how it was in the country school."

Code first unveiled the sign, which she painted, with her early morning Grade 9 class. She was to unveil it again for her other three classes later that day.

Principal Anne-Mieke Cameron explained Code, along with nearly 30 other staff members, had to move from their regular classrooms late in 1999 due to ongoing renovations at the school.

Cameron said the portable Code took over has had many uses over the years.

"When she inherited it, it was kind of a mess," Cameron said. "What she's done, she's told her students, 'Let's make this our little country school.'"

Cameron enjoys the contrast Code's portable offers compared to the rest of the school.

"Within this whole idea of going into the 21st century, we have this dream of a little country school," Cameron said. "And it appeals to people."

Code said her little school provides "a sense of warmth" and a place to hang out for students. She often has students arriving as early as 8 a.m. and the last ones often don't leave until 5 p.m. or so.

"It's kind of like having your extended family come down here," Code said. "They feel proud of it. There's a sense it belongs to them as well.

"There's a sense of coming together and I think that's what the sign does, it officially proclaims what we have."