Pen pal project bridging the gap

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It's a one of a kind program in Canada. Northern Ontario Native students will soon receive letters and books from non-Native students from 85 different public schools in the province in a new pen pal project created by Lt.-Gov. James K. Bartleman to promote literacy among Aboriginal youth.

Bartleman announced the project April 7, joined by Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy, president of the Ontario Principals' Council Doug Acton, Toronto District School Board trustee Sheila Ward and Jarvis Collegiate principal Andrew Gold.

"This twinning initiative will encourage Native and non-Native students to build bridges between their communities," said Bartleman during the announcement at the Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto. "I am delighted that so many Ontario schools want to get involved."

"When we put our call out asking schools to take part in this program, we were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from principals across Ontario," said Acton. "Students are really excited to connect with others from another cultural background. It's the kind of learning opportunity that enhances the ongoing curriculum in schools."

The project is the second phase of Bartleman's ongoing plan to increase the number of Aboriginal students graduating from high school and entering post-secondary education. The lieutenant governor, who is a member of the Mnjikaning First Nation, said the project comes out of his own background. He said he started the initiative because he was concerned with the low literacy rates and the high drop out rates of Aboriginal students, particularly in First Nations in Northern Ontario, and at the lack of understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

"Huge progress has been made over the years, but still, there's a tendency to look upon Aboriginal people with stereotypes and many Aboriginal people, particularly in the North, are not familiar with non-Aboriginal society and find it very difficult to leave their First Nation communities for the big cities," said Bartleman.

He started the first phase of the campaign a year ago, collecting 1.2 million books from across the province, which were sorted down to 850,000 books. Those books were distributed to First Nation schools in Northern Ontario and to 26 urban friendship centres across the province.

Bartleman said that the twinning Native and non-Native schools was a logical next step to help keep the library shelves full.

After talking to the Ontario chiefs, he said there was a lot of support, with more than 90 per cent of the province's First Nation communities indicating they want to take part in the project.

Students from schools across Ontario have already begun writing to their pen pals.

Sarah Scott, the teacher of the Grade 4/5 class at South Crosby public school in Eglin, said her students are very excited about the project. With the help of the school's special education teacher, Lynn Henry, the students are writing to Ojibway students at Lac La Croix elementary school in Northwestern Ontario.

"Because we write letters on a weekly basis in their journals, and then for them to do this, I couldn't believe how much they were able to write and how excited they were about the whole thing. That's what really surprised me. I didn't have to [ask], you know, more information please! They were just ready to tell every little detail about their life to these other kids," said Scott.

On top of the letter writing, the non-Native schools will be hosting an Aboriginal Day as well as collecting books to donate to their Native twin school.

The books are another important piece of the program. Scott said they have been asked to provide science and reference books because there is a lot of funding for computers and not enough for books, and as a result, students are losing the skill of how to use books for research.

Some schools in Northern Ontario have already received books, which is no easyfeat in itself. Jim Garrow, the principal of Aglace Chapman Education Centre in Big Trout Lake, said that the efforts made by others to get the books to the remote school was very generous. It took the voluntary help of the military and free shipping from Wasaya Airlines to get the 820 books donated by their twin school, Frank Casey public school in Sturgeon Falls. But getting the books is half the fun.

"It just creates a real buzz of excitement. It lets them know that there are people in other areas that are interested in them and what happens in their lives," said Garrow.

The program's goal of bridging the gap between communities is working. Garrow said the children have learned a lot about the Sturgeon Falls area through the Internet. The twin schools have also checked out each other's Web sites and started to write to each other through e-mail.

"I think Bartleman, you've got to give the guy credit for having decided, well let's get everyone involved, get them involved in something that's really, really different and really exciting and helpful," said Garrow.

For Sarah Scott, this program is very important for the school.

"Our school's in a rural area and not a whole lot of awareness of Aboriginal and Native people and I just think it's a really great chance for them to be made more aware of that and to pass that on to our school at large," said Scott.

The response to the project has been so positive that there are ongoing discussions with Aboriginal schools in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and with 50 additional public schools that are interested in the twinning project.

The next phase of Bartleman's plan is to create a summer literacy and wellness camp for First Nation kids in the remote northwestern area of the province. The day camps would help by giving the kids something constructive to do in places where such programs are often lacking, Bartleman said. It will also help bridge more gaps by bringing in trained high school stuents from southern Ontario to act as counsellors, and help give the kids self-esteem, said Bartleman.