Cumberland House celebrated the graduation of 26 teachers from the community-based four-year Cree Teacher Education Program on Saturday, May 6.
At last word she heard, the graduates all have jobs teaching either in their home community or in other areas, including Prince Albert and Saskatoon, Lily McKay Carriere, program co-ordinator for CTEP, said, in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
CTEP grew out of a community health initiative made up of people from the community, who, looking at the “11 determinants of health” and realizing education was one of them.
“We voiced our opinion on the need for post-secondary education,” McKay Carriere said.
She touted Jason Young, NLSD director of education, for all the work he did with the Dean of Education, University of Saskatchewan, to bring the situation to the point where the university put forth a call of interest to the community to initiative a program in Cumberland House.
“The interest was huge.”
There were presentations held in the community and approximately 60 people participated.
When a call for applications came; 50 responded and 35 were chosen to start the program in September 2019.
“Look at the number of people alone. There was so much interest,” she said.
McKay-Carriere said she remembers Jason Young saying, “We’ve got 35 of you. We wish you the best, but we know, life happens.”
And life happened, she said. The Pandemic!
The challenges were great with poverty, particularly those single-parenting, and the transition from in-class learning to online was hard for the students.
“A couple of people didn’t have WIFI in their homes. We tried to work around all those factors and the number of texts, emails, phone calls I received during that time was a clear indication of the effect that the COVID had on people who had so many transitions to go through. Thank goodness there was support in the community … from the leadership in the community. They looked after the welfare of the people.”
Two important elements came together throughout the course of the program, one from NLSD, People need the essence of hope and the betterment of others and “to be what the world needs.”
“That’s so beautiful , blending those two together. It’s like blending the western and Indigenous perspectives and it’s a good reminder that you know you’re just like one small little person trying to do the best you can … getting your education to help others.”
And it grew over the four years to wider perspectives of looking at the world. “That was beautiful to see that grow. And how students went through those phases of empowerment and understanding … that’s what I was so proud of. I was proud of them for that. So, that’s awesome.
And both Charlebois Community School and the Cumberland House Cree Nation (CHCN) school, nisto awasissak Memorial School, were fully staffed in June. A change from other years when they have been still looking for teachers in October.
The teacher Education Programs have been a blessing for us because, obviously, we are able to employ teachers from our communities. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involve, Dawn Kuppenbender, acting director of Education for Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) said in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
NLSD is a partner in the one-time community-based program that was run out of its school, Charlebois Community School, in the Northern Village of Cumberland House.
Along with providing the school, NLSD provided personnel and resources for the program over the four years. The University of Saskatchewan is the third partner in the program.
As a community-based school, CTEP will be now moved on to Pelican Narrows for the next four-year intake of students.
The next program partnership will be made up of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) and the University of Saskatchewan.
