Bedford Road Collegiate is a public high school on the west side of the city of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. It is Saskatoon's second oldest high school, opened on February 12, 1923. It is also known as BRCI (Bedford Road Collegiate Institute), or Bedford. Bedford Road Collegiate is part of the

Saskatoon Public School Division Saskatoon Public Schools (SPS) or Saskatoon S.D. No. 13 is the largest school division in Saskatchewan serving approximately 24,000 students. Saskatoon Public Schools operates 49 elementary schools, 10 secondary schools and 3 associate or affi ...

. Currently its feeder schools are Caswell Community School, Henry Kelsey School, King George Community School, Mayfair Community School,and Westmount Community School.

Campus

The school is shaped in the form of 2 concentric squares on top of each other, with the lower floor containing the gymnasium, auditorium, offices, as well as the music department, shop classroom and general purpose classrooms. In the lower square's center, the library is located. The upper floor contains the science department, art department, computer labs and general purpose classrooms. The lower square also contains the office department and conference rooms. a large commons area is also present on the lower floor. There is an in-campus restaurant called Redhawk Roost in the commons. In the past, two vending machines could be found near the auditorium. These vending machines were faulty and often failed to give change. The vending machines have been replaced as of September 2019, with two new vending machines taking their place. While the new vending machines do work better, many students have expressed disdain at the raised prices and lower quality in food.

Redmen name and logo

In the early 1960s, an "Indian Head" logo was adopted as the sports team logo for the school in addition to the original "Lantern" logo. In the mid-1990s, a campaign was started to change the "Redmen" name and the "Indian Head" logo claiming they are a "human rights violations." Some

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

academics and alumni consider the use of "Redmen" to be outdated and offensive. In 1996, a student vote ended overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the name and logo. The school has consulted with students, parents, community members, school staff,

and Métis elders and leaders about the logo and team name on a number of occasions. Each time, the majority of the stakeholders wanted to retain the name and the logo. However, in 2011, the campaign against the logo was revived via

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

, gaining national media attention and causing the

to reconsider the logo. In early 2013, protesters attempted to demonstrate at the Bedford Road Invitational Tournament, but they were blocked by teachers and police from entering. A new logo was launched during the 2013 BRCI graduation. According to the school, the design changes are meant to represent various aspect of First Nation culture and heritage. In March 2014, the Saskatoon public school board passed a motion to have the school drop the name "Redmen" and use a new name by the beginning of the new school year in September. The new name for Bedford Road, as chosen by a group of 70 staff, students, and alumni, will be the Redhawks, drawing on the red tail hawk native to Saskatchewan.

Student life

Athletics

Bedford Road Collegiate's sports teams are known as the Redhawks, and (although less commonly used today) "Lady Redhawks" for female teams. Athletic programs include football, cheerleading, wrestling, basketball, soccer, badminton, track & field, golf, and cross country. Bedford Road also hosts sports tournaments the Redhawks Classic and Redhawks Volley, along with BRIT.

BRIT

The

Bedford Road Invitational Tournament The Bedford Road Invitational Tournament (BRIT) is one of the most prestigious, and largest boys high school basketball tournaments in all of Canada. It takes place every January at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The curren ...

(BRIT) is a boys' basketball tournament held by the school every year since 1968, attracting national and international high school teams to Saskatoon. There is also a cheerleading and dance competition component to the tournament.

Notable alumni

Ethel Catherwood Ethel Hannah Catherwood (April 28, 1908 – September 26, 1987) was a Canadian athlete. Born in Hannah, North Dakota, United States, Ethel Catherwood was raised and educated in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, where she excelled at baseball ...

, Olympic track and field gold medalist * Michael Garnett, hockey player for

Traktor Chelyabinsk Traktor Chelyabinsk, also known as Traktor (russian: Трактор), is a professional ice hockey team based in Chelyabinsk, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). ...

of the

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

* William Leonard Higgitt, RCMP Commissioner *

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. Early life Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from Or ...

, Premier of Saskatchewan (1991–2001) *

Lefty Wilkie Aldon Jay "Lefty" Wilkie (October 30, 1914 – August 5, 1992) was a Canadian-born professional baseball player. The native of Zealandia, Saskatchewan, was a left-handed pitcher who worked in 68 games pitched, 12 as a starter, in the Major Le ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player

School song

Students at Bedford Road Collegiate traditionally sing the school song, which is adapted from the

Notre Dame Victory March The Notre Dame Victory March is the fight song for the University of Notre Dame. The chorus of the song has been considered one of the most recognizable collegiate fight songs. It was ranked first among fight songs by Northern Illinois University ...

. "Red and white" refers to Bedford's school colours. ''We'll stand and cheer for the old red and white And we'll defend her with all our might We're from Bedford and we're proud To echo her praises long and loud Though we may wander o'er land and sea (hey!) Our old collegiate she'll always be We'll fight, fight, fight, with all our might For the spirit of Bedford Road''

References

External links

Saskatoon Public SchoolsWelcome to BRCI
{{Saskatoon High Schools High schools in Saskatoon Educational institutions established in 1923 1923 establishments in Saskatchewan