A School Boat (1950s)

The best western [Music] sign. For these youngsters in British Columbia, Canada's most westerly province, a school bus ride is a nautical adventure. They use boats called sea buses. Mrs. Len Wilkinson crews one of the five launches. Her husband is skipper. The boats serve 1,400 square miles. For education is valued on the rugged Pacific coast. The youngsters who eagerly watch for the boat live on islands or in hard-to-reach coastal settlements. Getting them to school was the chief headache of the district school board until boats were tried out 8 years ago. Now attendance is better than at many city [Music] schools. In fair weather, fog or squall, the five boats cruise 85 miles on their round trips. From Pender Harbor and other tiny communities, 120 children are daily waterornne commuters to the three schools in the district. To carry them all safely back and forth costs $70 a day, some coastal residents consider well invested in the minds and hearts of their youth. So wherever the tide strokes the shore, the approach of the little sea bus is a welcome [Music] sight. British Columbia catches more fish than any other Canadian province, and fishing villages like this are among the hamlets served by the sea buses. [Music] Magazines are provided for the young salts to read during the trip. No skyarking is permitted. Following the rules, each youngster wears a life jacket as nonulently as a bosen's mate. The children come from families of fishermanmen and lumbermen. Lumbering is another big industry in British Columbia, Canada's third largest province. Life jackets are dooffed as the sea bus nears its destination. For some of the passengers, the trip takes only 20 minutes. Others travel more than an [Music] hour. Captain Wilkinson's job is done until the homework trip. Now the job of the teacher starts in this modern school for education is moving forward by land and by sea on the coast of British Columbia.