Celebrate education

Page 11

Education Week was celebrated Oct. 15 to Oct. 21, and Chief Little Pine School, a Kindergarten to Grade 12 facility located just off of Highway 16 between Lloydminster and North Battleford, was among a handful of Aboriginal schools to mark the occasion.

School counsellor Jeff Kahm arranged for visitors from a variety of career institutes, as well as one very special role model, to speak to Grades 7 to 12 on each afternoon of Education Week.

The goal was, said Kahm, to expose the students, who may have never had much chance to get off the reserve, to different careers they might be interested in pursuing. He said this is the second year he has organized Education Week events.

(see Encourage page 13.)

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Among the presenters was Doug Cuthand, a journalist and film producer with Bluehill Productions. He spoke about media, communications and the making of such work as Big Bear, the movie, and the film representation of the Saskatchewan Indian Summer Games. Also on the week's agenda was presentations from Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology and a computer animation studeo, to interest the more creative, artistic of the Chief Little Pine School students.

The school population is 255 students strong at Chief Little Pine School, with 134 of them in Grades 7 to 12, said Kahm. Education Week activities were meant to encourage and motivate the students and give them ideas as to what opportunities are available after graducation.

The Kindergarten to Grade 12 Nakoda Oyade Education Centre located an hour's drive east of Regina is also participating in a variety of events, culminating in an air band contest for Grade 7 students on Oct. 20. Friday will also see students participating in a hat day contest. But it's not all fun and games. On Oct. 18, students will take part in read a book day and the next day the Grade 4 to 12 students will participate in the short essay contest.

Parents are also encouraged to celebrate Education Week by attending an open house and meeting staff at Nakoda Oyade on Oct. 17. The Grade 2 class will be selling ice cream floats at lunch hour that day, to satisfy the student population's sweet tooth. Who said education wasn't fun?