School Archives Program

The Mission School Archives Program (SAP) is the first of its kind in BC. SAP helps to ensure that records for each school are preserved in the Mission Community Archives. Established in 2000, the program is designed to assist and train staff, students from kindergarten to grade twelve, and parents to play a proactive role in preserving the documentary heritage of their school on a year to year basis.

At the beginning of each school year, every school in Mission is given an archives box containing folders to place records in during the year. The boxes are then collected at the end of June and inventoried during the summer.

Comprised of annual reports, yearbooks, school publications, photographs, artwork, and other items, Val Billesberger, the Community Archivist and founder of the program, claims that the records not only document the history of the school but also the community. She states: “This program provides a valuable service-learning opportunity for students and creates a lasting legacy from which present and future generations will benefit.”