Coralee Miller, a local Syilx member, docent at the Sncewips Museum, and artist contributed beautiful artwork to help convey the story of our school houses and their connection to the environment where we live, work, and play. As part of our school’s exploration of the term 'traditional' through multiple perspectives, Coralee’s artwork reflects the meaning behind our house colors: Red for Heart, Yellow for Sun, Blue for Water, and Green for Land.
One of our primary school goals is wellness, and we continuously strive to foster identity, belonging, and community among our students. We believe that when students feel a strong sense of connection to each other and our staff, they are better able to find agency in their learning. This belief is reflected in our use of four multi-age house teams, a tradition we value. Our work is inspired by the research of Shane Safir "student up—with classrooms, schools, and systems built around students’ brilliance, cultural wealth, and intellectual potential"
Our new Osprey Crest, displayed alongside our original OTS crest, symbolizes the coming together of various traditional structures into one unified community under our school's new name, OTS Osprey. The Osprey Crest incorporates many elements of our school, including our four house teams, and also represents the Four Food Chiefs, whose story was shared by Coralee during an assembly. Coralee shared their significance in Syilx culture. The importance of the Four Food Chiefs is also detailed in the Central Okanagan Equity in Action for Truth and Reconciliation agreement. This agreement is a key guiding document for informing educational practices. Standard 9, the Professional Standards for BC Educators was introduced in August 2019, this standard requires educators to embed Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into our pedagogy. Our goal is to meet this standard, particularly through the lens of identity and belonging in fostering student agency.
