Me in 2073: How one Revelstoke school emphasizes the importance of place

This story is part of a feature that first appeared in print in Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine’s February 2023 issue. Read the entire e-edition here:

“Does anyone recognize this street?” asks Cathy English, Revelstoke Museum and Archives Curator. She references four photographs projected onto a screen in the gymnasium at Arrow Heights Elementary School. Tiny hands shoot up across the audience. Finally, English relieves the eager tension by telling them to shout it aloud. “Mackenzie Avenue!” echo the students simultaneously.

They’re right. The first photo was taken in 1898, over 120 years ago. The street’s likeness to the present is noticeable but not obvious. Mount Revelstoke in the background is perhaps the most telling feature, but there are hardly any trees on its slopes due to a fire.

The following photo was taken about 14 years later and has changed dramatically. The trees have started to grow back, and some present-day buildings populate the picture. “It’s starting to become the Revelstoke that we know,” says English.

The next photo from the 1960s shows a bustling city centre. English points out that the street is still far from the Revelstoke we know now. There are no grizzly bear statues, no gazebo where REVY.Live concerts are performed; it’s missing a lot of signature features that make the town the destination it is today.

English points to a photo of Mackenzie Avenue in 2022 and asks, “Do you see how much it changed over time?” And it has.

Planning for 2073

English’s lesson is part of a broader project called Me in 2073. It was first brought to Arrow Heights Elementary School Principal Pam Mair by two parents, Rodney and Lindsay Payne.

The Paynes work for Destination Think and have been contracted by Tourism Revelstoke to draft a destination management plan for Revelstoke. The plan, once completed, will be a framework to sustainably market, manage and develop Revelstoke as a tourism destination. Part of the planning process includes this 2073 initiative.

Tourism Revelstoke put out a survey to Revelstokians in the fall, asking respondents to consider what they want Revelstoke to look like in 2073 with the idea that thinking so far ahead will encourage more ambitious idea generation.

Survey results found that overall, residents rated the quality of life in Revelstoke an eight out of ten. However, respondents stated they’re concerned that the trajectory of quality of life in town is decreasing. Results show that 48 per cent of respondents say they feel the quality of life is getting worse, 29 per cent say it seems to be staying the same, and 23 per cent say it’s getting better. Some concerns cited were affordable housing, income and employment and an increased cost of living.

One way the school is working toward its goals of connectedness to place is by
partnering with Tourism Revelstoke to give kids ownership of Revelstoke’s future.
Photo: Nora Hughes

A sense of place

Mrs. Mair says kids don’t notice the big impacts of tourism quite like adults do. For a lot of her students, Revelstoke has always been busy, and the ski hill has always been there.

“I think a lot of things become commonplace to them because they’re used to it. They all go to the ski hill. They’ve been doing that since they were little, and they just are used to a busy place,” she says. “Whereas somebody like me, I was here when it was not a busy place. So I noticed the changes more.”

The Me in 2073 project fits the school’s goal to work on connectedness to place. She says weaving gratitude, connectedness and sense-of-place into the school’s broader curriculum helps students take care of what Revelstoke has now and fosters a more profound respect for the environment.

Younger students will work with older students to fill out a postcard addressed to themselves in 2073. It reads, “Dear me in 2073, Here is what I hope Revelstoke is like in 50 years:….”

Mrs. Mair hopes students will use the postcards to predict what Revelstoke will be like in 50 years by expressing gratitude for what they’re thankful for now.

Revelstoke in 2073

If the kids took anything away from English’s Revelstoke history lesson, it’s that places can change significantly over time. With this in mind, Arrow Heights students will express what they hope Revelstoke will look like in 2073 and Begbie View Elementary School also plans to take on the project.

The Paynes and Tourism Revelstoke hope the project will give kids ownership over the future of their town. They plan to read all the cards and incorporate as many ideas as possible into Revelstoke’s destination management plan. In addition, tourism Revelstoke intends to work with English to display or archive the postcards at the museum, so students can one day look back at their predictions of Revelstoke’s future.

“My hope is that the kids see that their voices are heard, recognized and important,” says Mrs. Mair. “I think that’s always important for kids. But I also think that connectedness — knowing that they have a say, that they have some part in how things are going to progress in the future — is really important.”

Update:

Students completed the project just after we published the Me in 2073 article. We’ve attached a few completed postcards from Arrow Heights students, predicting what Revelstoke will look like in 50 years. Check out our photo gallery below: