The Apprenticeship Prep pilot program supports NorQuest College’s mandate to provide workforce relevant programming. An outstanding 95 per cent of NorQuest graduates find employment or continue their education.

Pilot program prepares students for pipe-trades

Andie WL (requested that her last name not be used) is passionate about the writing she does for the newly launched Alberta Street News.

“People see us as invisible,” said Andie, who is one of three Calgary writers. “Aboriginal men and women are out there and (other people) don’t want to acknowledge us.”

Andie wrote for Calgary Street Talk, which folded in the summer of 2011. She had been selling Street Talk in the Mission district of Calgary’s inner city since 2005.

A wood-working class, a socially-conscious teacher, and a grant have all led to the first of many charity projects.
Wood-working students at Amiskwaciy Academy in Edmonton recently donated 12 dog houses that they had built to the Second Chance Animal Society. The dog houses are just one of the many charity projects Larry Moro, administrator of the school’s woodworking program, has his students working on.

Matthew Whitehead is proof that it’s never too late to get an education.

Whitehead, a 48-year-old Mikisew Cree from Fort Chipewyan, is mere months away from receiving his Master’s degree in Environment and Management from Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C.

That’s a rather impressive accomplishment for Whitehead, who dropped out of school with a Grade 7 education.

At the age of 19 Whitehead left his community when his father relocated to Fort Smith, in the Northwest Territories.

Shortly after that, Whitehead started thinking about going back to school.

When the 2012 Alberta Business Awards of Distinction were announced recently, TAWS Security Ltd. stood out among the winners as an up-and-coming business in Fort McMurray. The First Nation-based company employs 85 percent First Nation or Métis workers.

Isabell Ringenoldus, founder of TAWS, was surprised and pleased that she had been awarded the Aboriginal Woman Entrepreneur Award of Distinction.

Leiha Crier is confident she can once again guide a team to a medal-winning performance at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.

This marks the eighth straight year that Crier has served as the coach for the Alberta girls team at the national tournament.

Crier guided her squad to a bronze medal at the 2011 NAHC held in Saskatoon. It was the first time the Alberta girls’ squad had captured a medal at the NAHC.

Crier believes her club can also pick up some more hardware at this year’s NAHC, which will also be held in Saskatoon and runs May 7-12.

The operator of the River Cree Casino and Resort are hoping to speak to Premier Alison Redford about the difficulties they are encountering in negotiating their second First Nation Development Fund grant.

“We want to know what we can do with the policy in place that everybody agreed to for over a 25-year term,” said Tamara Hicks, director of communications with Paragon Gaming EC Company, which manages the casino and resort for the Enoch First Nation. “We’re hoping to get this in front of the premier.”

Next month, amateur boxer Wayne Bourque will be inducted into the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Fort McMurray.

“It’s nice to be remembered and I am very honoured,” said Bourque, who has lived in Toronto for over two decades. He added that his 16-year-old son, a talented lacrosse player, put the induction into perspective for him. “My son Brandon hit the hammer on the head and said it best, ‘Dad…they still remember what you did and that was nearly 30 years ago.’”

Hope and hopelessness is what Cree Elder Lillian Shirt says came through as relatives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls made dolls in memory of their loved ones.

“The hope that their loved ones are somewhere out there, that they will be found alive,” said Shirt. “The hopelessness is that hoping they didn’t suffer.”

Families of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls came together earlier this month getting strength and support from each other as they shared their stories and decorated dolls.

Several dozen Alberta students can now claim they are part of an award-winning musical effort.

The Wood Buffalo Youth Song Project, which primarily involved Aboriginal students from 10 Alberta schools as well as some Maritime musicians, won an East Coast Music Award.

The collaborative piece was selected as the children’s recording of the year at the awards show, held Apr. 15 in Moncton, N.B.

Cape Breton’s Keith Mullins and Halifax-based Thom Swift visited 10 schools in 10 days in March of 2011. At each school they were joined by up to 10 students.