Eastmain !!

I had a great day in Eastmain yesterday, arriving in the morning after a VERY early drive from Chisasibi! It was great to be able to speak to people and to hear their views of Education and how we can use our education system, our Cree School Board as a tool to create our future.

It was great to tour the community. I am grateful for the time that Jamie Moses was able to take with me to introduce me to people at the band office and to see many familiar faces there. In my role at Aanischaaukamikw, was always amazed by the culture and community services under the band in Eastmain. The way that the community steps up and welcomes large gatherings, hosting and entertaining is amazing, as is the culture programming running for community members, even ensuring that school students are included and engaged.

I heard about how important it is to engage children and youth in, hands-on, land-based, cultural activities that contribute to building their knowledge as well as their Cree identity. Through initiatives like those in Eastmain that integrate band programming and make connections with the various entities, we can provide a holistic education for our young people.

I was amazed by the way that Eastmain ensures its history is honoured wherever possible, from the photos up in the band office to the tribute plaque to past chiefs, deputies and councils. It’s my belief that our youth need to be taught their own history of their families and communities, as well as our nation’s history as a whole. This is a large part of indentity construction, together with strengthening connection to the land and a grounding in our culture and our language. There is a lot to be proud of.

As I continued my tour, I meet amazing people who definitely feel that education is important! Some of the issues we discussed during my visit to this beautiful community:

• We need to ensure high standards in teaching and learning;

• We need to focus on improving outcomes for our students in secondary;

• We need to focus on supporting post secondary students, those who are young and out on their own for the first time and those with young families who are parenting while being students;

• We need to support students with special needs and ensure they get everything they need while in our schools;

• We need to ensure a viable place for culture and language while we employ high standards in all subject areas;

• We need to look at how we can better support our students to stay in school throughout high school;

• We need to focus on training qualified, competent, Cree teachers who will help us ensure high standards in our classrooms;

• We need voices from our communities to be heard through meaningful dialogue and conversation!

I am so grateful to the community of Eastmain and to those who took the time to share their thoughts and ideas with me!