Speakers bureau encourages kids to stay in school

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Aboriginal employees within the provincial public service will soon be volunteering their time to talk to Aboriginal youth about career opportunities within government and the importance of staying in school.

Pikiskwewak, which means "they speak" in Cree, is the name chosen for a new speakers bureau created by the Aboriginal Government Employees' Network (AGEN), a group created more than a decade ago to help support Aboriginal people working in government and to increase the number of Aboriginal people employed within Saskatchewan's public service.

The speakers bureau is being created by AGEN in partnership with Saskatchewan's Public Service Commission, Crown Investment Corporation, and Government Relations and Aboriginal Affairs.

The speakers bureau will benefit both the Aboriginal people of the province, who will learn more about career opportunities that exist within government departments and Crown corporations, and the government, which will have a new way to tap into the growing population of Aboriginal youth as a source of future employees, explained Linda Anderson, a member of the AGEN steering committee.

Through the speakers bureau, Aboriginal government and Crown employees will return to their home communities to speak about their jobs, about how they got to where they are today, and about how the same opportunities are available to all Aboriginal youth, today more so than ever when so much of the current workforce within the province is expected to retire within the next decade.

What that means is that jobs that have been held down by the same person for 25 or 30 years will soon be vacant. And with the province's burgeoning population of Aboriginal youth, many of the positions will be filled by Aboriginal candidates who have the necessarily skills and education.

To start out, the speakers bureau will be focusing on getting its message out to students in grades 7 through 9, "just to start planting that seed of thought," Anderson said. Work has begun on preparing a script that volunteer speakers will be able to use to guide them in their presentation, and Anderson wants to make sure that script includes a cultural component.

"Our kids have to see how it connects to them culturally. So sort of talking a little bit about, 'This is how our ancestors and Elders visioned education for future generation,'" she said.

Students taking part in the presentations will also get information about the myriad of different types of occupations available within government, as well as which jobs would be out of reach if they dropped out of school. They will also get to play a money reality game, giving them a glimpse of what life is really like in the adult world.

Each presentation will also open with a video with a message from the Elders, "talking to the kids about the importance of learning and growing and evolving and education, and what role that education will play for them to unlock their dreams, to be whatever it is that they want to be," Anderson said.

"It's up to us as community members to try to put the importance of education back into our families, because again you're looking at history here of parents who may have been victims of residential schooling, and their whole experience with the educational system may have not been a positive one. But we still have to try to provide hope and an opportunity for our kids to have that dream. Because in reality it would be silly to drop out of school today when there's so many opportunities available. But for some in isolated communities, they might not still be able to see themselves as having a role in the future. So somehow, we've got to be able to provide that vision for them."

The volunteers for the speakers bureau will receive some training in making presentations and facilitating group discussions, Anderson said.

"We want to give them the confidence to be able to present in front of a classroom. And a little bit of how do you connect with kids at tht level, because you've got to speak in a language that they understand."

Those training sessions will likely take place early in November, and then the speakers bureau will be ready to start bringing its message out to Aboriginal communities across the province.

Letters and brochures about the speakers bureau will be sent out to schools, letting them know that volunteers are available to come out and talk to their students.

"And this will be on-reserve, off-reserve, community, private, public. It'll be all the schools in Saskatchewan that we hope to eventually hit," she said.

"I personally just think this is a good initiative. You can't go wrong with education. You cannot go wrong with providing people with information," Anderson said.

"There's been so many jobs that have been unattainable to us before. And that is why when I talk to kids, if it's for no other reason to get your education, please do it on behalf of your ancestors. Because they never had these opportunities and they sacrificed a lot for you to be where you are today. So you can grab that brass ring and you can be the next premier of the province ... the options are unlimited right now. So please take advantage of it. Because your destiny can be whatever you choose it to be."

For more information visit the AGEN Web site at www.agen.sk.ca.