Hanging in the balance of the Alberta teachers’ vote and potential strike is the future of not only educators, children and their parents — but also small local businesses who rely on field trips every fall.
Tam Andersen is the director of Prairie Gardens in Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton.
“We might expect 5,000 to 10,000 students over the course of the season, so it’s a very big part of our core business,” she said.
“We get kids driving in on buses from up to two to three hours away.”
On Monday, the farm was crawling with children — many of them on field trips that have been rescheduled in an attempt to avoid potential strike dates.
At Prairie Gardens, each child not only learns where food comes from, but they also bring home a pumpkin.
If the teachers walk off the job on Oct. 6, Andersen will have a lot of extra pumpkins to sell — and she’ll also need an alternate revenue source.
“We’ve pivoted many times, had some practice doing that in the last few years.
“We find every time one door closes, another one opens. We’re trying not to be stressed out about it.”
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To that end, she’s come up with a plan B — offering homeschooling farm tours.
“We’ll give some coaching to the parents on how to lead their group through the farm. Then all our tour guides, instead of doing individual tours, they’re posted at stations so they can answer your questions,” Andersen explained.
Fitset Ninja in Edmonton is in a similar boat.
“In a lot of cases the school administration is just like, ‘Cancel for now and once we have more information on our end we’ll rebook.’ We just have to kind of go with that,” explained CEO Tim Gourlay.
The indoor obstacle course derives a lot of its interest in memberships from interactions through schools.
“This is how a lot of people first hear of Fitset Ninja,” Gourlay said.
“It’s not ideal, that’s for sure. 30 to 35 per cent of our revenue is school field trips and mobile obstacle courses to schools.
“It’s a little stressful, just the uncertainty of it.”
Trying to ensure there’s enough work for their coaches during the day, Fitset Ninja is preparing to offer day camps if teachers go on strike.
“Just to keep our staff working and hopefully provide some value for parents who don’t have a place to send their kids.”
Birch Bay Ranch near Sherwood Park had the same idea. Field trips make up 85 per cent of their business in the fall.
“It’s trying to figure out what we can do so we can keep paying these staff, or do we have to lay them off?” said administrator Sharon Fraess.
Just east of Edmonton, they’ll also offer day camps, with food and some flexible drop-off and pickup times.
If the teachers strike, Birch Bay will provide day camp space for up to 60 kids a day, potentially more if high school students come out and volunteer.
“We’ll be ready to launch tomorrow if the vote is a no,” Fraess said before the results of the vote revealed teachers rejected the proposed deal. “Of course, hoping we can come to some agreement is best for everybody, but we’ll be ready.”
They’d have children in grades 1 to 8 try out various activities including horseback riding, an aerial course, rock climbing, archery and other games.
But at the end of the day, these entrepreneurs are hoping their backup plans won’t be required.
“Our hearts are with our students, and our educators, and we want the best for both worlds,” Andersen said.
Alberta Teachers’ Association president Jason Schilling told reporters Monday, after 90 per cent of those who voted rejected the deal, that the result was a “historical no” and a sign of just how disrespected teachers are feeling.
Schilling said the union, which represents 51,000 teachers across Alberta, is open to further negotiations but all signs are pointing to teachers hitting the picket lines next Monday.
— With files from Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
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