The Saskatchewan Rivers Students for Change (SRSC) has brought forward a concern about gaps in career guidance in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.
Rural student representative Charlie Lysyk brought the matter forward during the Board of Education’s regular meeting on May 12. She said younger students are receiving plenty of career guidance through things like education planner My Blueprint, careering coaching, and
career classes. However, Lysyk wrote in her report that a gap emerged in career guidance as students grew older.
Director of education Neil Finch said the division does a great job around career guidance, but he does understand the position of the SRSC.
“I would say that what the students are telling us is that we need to become more consistent with how we approach that in all schools,” Finch said.
Finch agreed that Lysyk being a rural representative brought a different perspective and saw the gaps that exist between rural and urban schools on the subject.
“Individually she seemed quite satisfied, but some of her peers were not as satisfied,” Finch
said.
Lysyk wrote that there was a consensus among SRSC members that more could be done to help students plan their futures.
There were also some students who wanted to see more general information. The exercise ended with the SRSC creating a tier system for what the group wanted to see in career guidance.
Sask Rivers welcomes spring with Pipe Ceremony
The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division held their spring Pipe Ceremony on Monday, May 13 at Vincent Massey School.
The ceremony was led by Elder Liz Sette and Elder Curtis Breaton. Both Elders shared teachings about spring being the time of renewal and welcoming change, before raising their
pipes.
Director of education Neil Finch said that the ceremony was well-attended.
“We had community members there, we had students in attendance, we had elders and there was just a variety of stakeholders that were a part of that pipe ceremony,” Finch said.
Following their pipe ceremony there is a meeting of the board with the Elder’s Council.
“Then the elders council after there was some focus on sweats and some PD (Professional Development) for the board around what that looks like in protocol for a sweat,” Finch explained.
This would be a first for the board according to Finch.
“The board has never done a sweat,” he said. “They just did some learning yesterday around what all takes place during a sweat.”
According to a school division press release, the board recognized the growth in attendance in the seasonal ceremonies and how important they are to school communities in a debrief later on Monday.
In the release, the Board said they are humbled to support this work and expressed gratitude to the Elders, and Indigenous Perspectives team for their commitment to ensuring the seasonal ceremonies continue to grow.
During the regular meeting, trustee Jaimie Smith-Windsor brought to the board’s attention that the Federal Government is looking at reducing spending in Indigenous Services Canada over the next five years.
This could include grants like Jordan’s Principle grants which allow the division to hire EAs and Mentors focusing on Indigenous students.’
Finch said it was a matter of alerting the board that this could happen, but nothing was on the
horizon for this year.
“We will continue to apply for what we’ve been applying for and if we get a denial, we’ll have to change course on what that looks like,” Finch said. “We know that it’s additionalsupportive funding that we can’t count on, for our long-term plan, but it’s a year to year
budget ask.”
He said that applying for Jordan’s Principle funding had been successful including in the Sask Rivers budget for 2024-2025 where it has allowed the division to hire additional mentors and EAs.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
