School District 91 (Nechako Lakes) is hoping that a new online campaign will help attract more teachers to the region.

Eagle Vision Video Productions Ltd., a company based in Fort St. John, has been producing a series of videos for the school district, highlighting the first impressions and lifestyle of teachers in the region.

鈥淏efore I came up here I came for a tour, and I was blown away by the scenery and the people in the community,鈥� describes 亚洲天堂 Lake teacher Chris Backhouse in one of the videos. 鈥淧eople in the community are absolutely amazing; they鈥檒l take care of anybody here and bring them in as their own; and that has helped me to make an easy transition into living here.鈥�

Mike Skinner, director of instruction for School District 91, says the school district started considering this initiative about a year ago, when additional hiring across the province put a further strain on attracting teachers to the region. Last year the provincial government committed $330 million to settle a dispute with the B.C. Teachers鈥� Federation, funding 2600 new teacher positions across B.C.

In addition, Skinner says a large portion of School District 91 teachers is expected to retire over the next decade.

鈥淚n the next 10 years probably close to half of our teachers could be in a position to retire,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you look at the demographics of our teachers, we got a large number of teachers who are around the age 50; that鈥檚 one of our biggest groups right now.鈥�

Although School District 91 was having some difficulties hiring teachers last year, Skinner said hiring has been 鈥渇airly stable鈥� in the past few months.

鈥淪ince the beginning of December we鈥檝e hired four teachers. We鈥檙e in the process of hiring another teacher right now. Overall we鈥檙e doing reasonably well, but the fluidity with replacements is hard to predict.鈥�

The online campaign is costing the school district approximately $15,000. The videos started being filmed last August.

鈥淭hey [Eagle Vision] did some shots of our schools and aerial shots in all of our communities; they came back at the end of September and did some interviews with some of our young teachers in the 亚洲天堂 Lake area,鈥� explained Skinner. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e done some great shots.鈥�

鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming back in the next few weeks to do some winter filming; and then we鈥檙e gonna do some other interviews with some new and experienced teachers in other communities,鈥� he continued. 鈥淥ur overall goal is to film the area in all main seasons; we want a wide range of videos.鈥�

The videos are being distributed through social media, hiring fairs across B.C. through a USB flash drive, and school district websites.

Skinner said that although it鈥檚 still too early to assess the impact the videos are having, he鈥檚 confident they鈥檒l help with the district鈥檚 recruiting efforts.

鈥淚t鈥檚 good for young teachers - especially from other parts of Canada - to hear firsthand what it鈥檚 like [to work in northern B.C.],鈥� he said.