During the Sxoxomic Community School Christmas concert at Esk'et this year, students sang a song they co-wrote with Juno-award winning musician Norman Foote.
Foote has been coming to the school for several years to do workshops with the children, said the school's principal Ryan Hanley.
During his most recent visit, Foote and the students penned a song they titled Christmas in Esk'et.
"Norman talked to our language teacher and found the Secwépemc translation for Christmas in Esk'et - Xyum te Sitgt," Hanley said.
Every class put something together to perform at the concert as they do every year and Hanley noted last year some students did a presentation entirely in the Secwépemc language.
The school normally has a decorated Christmas tree inside and one of Hanley's favourite activities is the store set up for students to shop for gifts for their family members.
"People bring items in from around their homes that they aren't using and we give the students what we call Sxoxomic bucks and they can buy presents for their family members and then we have a bit of a wrapping party afterwards," Hanley said.
When it comes to winter activities at the school, changes in weather have had an impact.
Hanley said they were only on the outdoor rink a couple of times last winter.
"We'd get a bit of snow and it would gradually melt away or we'd get rain on top of it and then it would freeze until it wasn't great conditions for winter activities. We have snowshoes, but we really have not had the chance to use them in the last couple of years because our winters being so mild."
Hanley enjoys the cultural learning opportunities at the school for the students.
In the opening week of school, normally someone will bring salmon and the students will help prepare it for the smokehouse at the school.
"This year because of the Chilcotin River slide, someone from Kitimat made a donation of fish to the school and they were able to use it," Hanley said.
Last year one of the hereditary chiefs brought in a deer and the students learned how to process it and another time two local people who are experts on making hides came in to teach the children the art.
"We are fortunate that we have a lot of local expertise we can draw from. As time goes on we are hoping to be able to schedule more cultural learning activities."
Close to the school students also go pick sage so there is some at the school for the students to use for gifts and other items.
"We give the kids the fundamental math and reading skills they need, but also give them local culture that they need to be grounded in who they are and where they come from."
Presently there are 68 students from pre-Kindergarten through to Grade 10 enroled in the school.
Aside from six teachers there are nine education assistants, an elder-in-residence, a cook, bus driver, maintenance man, two custodians, one executive assistant and one speech and language assistant.
Before Sxoxomic, Hanley taught in Williams Lake at the secondary school for 11 years and before that taught in Ontario for 10 years.
"I find every time you make a change it gives you an opportunity to grow in a different direction. That's certainly what this opportunity had been for me."
