Huge education conference draws hundreds to Kehewin

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The Kehewin Cree Nation near St. Paul was the host of one of the education system's most admired people.

Although the name Jaime Escalante may not sound familiar, his work was immortalized in the film Stand and Deliver.

Escalante was an invited guest and keynote speaker at the fourth annual Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations Education Conference, hosted by the Kehewin Community Education Centre.

Hundreds of teachers, administrators, academics, and community members involved with Native schools from Alberta and Saskatchewan attended the two day conference.

The keynote speech from Escalante was a highlight and a motivation to many who attended. The speaker was admired not only for what he accomplished with students he taught, but also for his efforts in getting his own education.

Jaime Escalante was born in La Paz, Bolivia. While in Bolivia he taught Physics and Mathematics for fourteen years. In 1964 he decided to immigrate to the United States. His first stop was the Universidad de Puerto Rico where he took some Science and Mathematics courses. After moving from Puerto Rico to California, he found himself not knowing how to speak English, and without any teaching credentials. Despite the odds against him, he studied at nights at the Pasadena City College earning a degree in Electronics. He then took a day job, and continued studying in order to get a Mathematics degree.

In 1976 he began teaching at Garfield High School, in east Los Angeles, California, where drugs, gangs and violence were facts of daily life. Despite these obstacles, Escalante was able to motivate a small group of students to take, and pass the AP calculus exam in 1982. The Educational Testing Service, which administers the test, invalidated the scores, believing that the students had cheated. Most of the 18 pupils retook the test and passed, making Escalante a national hero almost overnight.

By 1991, the number of Garfield students taking advanced placement examinations in math and other subjects had increased to 570. That was the year Escalante left the school, citing faculty politics and petty jealousies. He was hired by the Sacramento school system almost instantly.

The district pays his salary, but the National Science Foundation, the Atlantic Richfield Co. and the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education underwrite much of his equipment and special programs.

Today, Jaime Escalante is considered on the of the most famous educators in the United States. He was the subject of the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver , which dramatized his efforts to help underachieving Latin students beat the odds and pass an advanced placement calculus test. This splendid semi-documentary on the life of ghetto school teacher Jaime Escalante (played by Edward James Olmos) has already become one of the classic films about American education. As a result of its faithfulness to life, the film is a profound tribute to the positive impact a good teacher can make.

In recognition of his incredible achievements, Escalante was awarded the United States Presidential Medal and the Andres Bello Award by the Organization of American States.

In speaking to the audience at Kehewin, Escalante encouraged everyone involved with a student to push them to the limit - to make them understand and learn.

His message was that teachers have a duty to perform in teaching all students, no matter how difficult the student(s) may be. They should have the ability to deal with them effectively so that the education of the child does occur.

Education is vital, he emphasized.

There were a number of other speakers and workshops available for those attending the conference. Speakers included Eber Hampton, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the president of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, Adelle Arcand, a strong spiritual and motivational speaker from the Alexander First Nation, and Melvin and Rosa John, who have B.A's in Native Studies and are attaining their Mastes of Fine Arts in Drama at the University of Calgary. They presented workshops to get teachers to use Aboriginal ideas and traditions within the curriculum. The couple told teachers to teach the children traditional hand games or teach the Mayan calendar to them in a math class. In the gymnasium, students could be learning lacrosse or Arctic activities like the high leg kick or leg wrestling.

Participants were also given the opportunity to attend workshops on the affects of fetal alcohol syndrome on children in the classroom. Other workshops ranged from stress and time management to poetry and spirituality.

Local speaker, Trevor Turnbull, the principal at the Pakan School in Goodfish Lake, also presented a workshop on using creativity to push students to their highest performance. Turnbull is a good example of what drive and motivation can accomplish.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree and an Associate Education degree from the University of Queensland in Australia, received an Honors Law Degree from the University of London in England, and an Advanced Diploma in Management from the Canadian School of Management. He also has a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Pacific Western University in Los Angeles. Now, as principal of Pakan School, Trevor has taught at all grade levels from kindergarten through university, and views himself primarily as a teacher above all else.

Turnbull's accomplishments and the accomplishments of all the presenters made the Kehewin conference once that won't soon be forgotten.

In all, there were 70 sessions, workshops, functions or speakers at the conference.