The Ohpaho name came about as a result of a meeting by the Black Gold School Division trustees. The naming process began with a period of submissions from the public. Other finalists included Westview, Prairie View, Aileen Faller and Jordan Hill. The name “Ophaho” is the word for “taking flight” in Cree, and the name is designed as a tribute to the area’s Indigenous peoples.
A memo released by the School Division highlighted the larger meaning of the name:
“Metaphorically, imagine all the grade 9’s coming from many different schools arriving or landing at Ohpaho [High School] where they prepare to ‘take flight’ on their own adventures and journeys just a few years later.”
The person who submitted the name was Brian Lightning, a language coordinator at the Samson Cree Nation Museum & Archives. Lightning will receive a Black Gold prize pack and an invite to the ground-breaking ceremony for Ohpapo Secondary School. The school is designed to host more than 1,100 students with state-of-the-art facilities. School names often appear everywhere from gateways to Letterheads, and are a crucial part of an institution’s identity.
Ohpaho Secondary School will break ground on April 25, and it is currently planned for it to begin admitting students in 2024.
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