For one West Side family, an East Side public school became their schooling of choice over both West Side public and private options.
Teenager Sifti Bhullar visited India, returned home to 麻豆传媒映画and told her parents she didn鈥檛 want to return to her private school. She wanted to attend public school and donate her tuition.
鈥淪o we have a big fight at home,鈥� said her father, Hakam Bhullar. 鈥淲e were arguing as parents, we are working hard to give you a good education.鈥�
Sifti promised she鈥檇 get better grades.
Point Grey secondary was closer to their home, but Sifti chose to attend John Oliver secondary, near her father鈥檚 veterinarian practice, where she had friends that she鈥檇 made through Bollywood dance. She wanted to attend a school with a more multicultural environment.
The Bhullar parents gave Sifti the up to $25,000 they would have spent on her Grade 11 year at Crofton House school for girls.
Sifti gave $5,000 to JO and donated the rest to charities in South Africa and India.
She not only earned grades above 90 per cent but served as her class valedictorian in 2012.
鈥淥ur friends started asking us which school is she going to? And for the first two to three months, honestly, I was feeling shy to say she鈥檚 going to JO,鈥� Hakam said.
While her parents worried about others鈥� perceptions, Sifti was busy convincing her brother, Sid, who attended St. George鈥檚 boys school, to enrol at JO.
鈥淪he told me about the great supporting staff and the whole friendly community that鈥檚 in John Oliver, almost like a family rather than a school,鈥� Sid said.
Sid, who entered JO after spring break in Grade 9, was already an accomplished practitioner of taekwondo and was ranked third in the world in his weight division. He鈥檇 long achieved high grades. But at JO, the once quiet teen became student council president.
鈥淚 used to be a really shy kid in St. George鈥檚, like I wouldn鈥檛 even raise my hand,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith this supporting teachers and staff and this whole community around me, it really opened me up and forced me to get myself out there and forced me to make friends and encouraged me to join clubs and do stuff. I would have never imagined myself running for president, but everyone鈥檚 so supportive.鈥�
Sid worked part-time while at JO to raise money to create a rap video called 鈥淲on鈥檛 Stop鈥� about bullying, which attracted more than 76,000 views on YouTube, and he鈥檚 spoken at forums in Surrey about gangs and drugs.
The Bhullars, who immigrated to Canada in the early 1990s, initially chose private school because they could afford it and believed it offered the best education.
鈥淲hen you go to Surrey and you talk about JO, some names [of gang members] are attached to the school,鈥� Hakam said. 鈥淭hey say, 鈥極h my God, such and such people graduated from that school.鈥欌��
He tells them otherwise.
鈥淭his is one of the best schools in B.C.,鈥� Hakam said.
JO鈥檚 principal, Tim McGeer, agrees.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things there that money just can鈥檛 buy,鈥� McGeer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about character, we鈥檙e talking about resilience, we鈥檙e talking about diversity, we鈥檙e talking about the development of compassion. Of course, many schools do this in great ways, both public and private, but we鈥檙e particularly proud of what we do here in our community.鈥�
Sifti is studying to be a veterinarian in the U.K.
Sid has been accepted into medical school in Ireland for September.
@Cheryl_Rossi
This story has been modified since it was first posted.聽
