Education graduates head home to teach

Five Brock University graduates were honoured July 18 at Pelican Falls First Nation High School (PFFNHS) during Northern Nishnawbe Education Council’s (NNEC) Bachelor of Education Program Recognition Event.
The Bachelor of Education program is offered by Brock University in partnership with NNEC through Brock’s Tecumseh Centre.
It gears to Aboriginal students who cannot undertake the traditional student role in a university, and helps train local people who will then work as teachers in the communities.
The bachelor of education program is spread out through five years, with students leaving their communities for three weeks at a time to be taught in the Sioux Lookout region.
“Our instructors flew up from the south,” said Alanna Mamakeesick, Brock University graduate and Lac Seul First Nation band member.
Mamakeesick said she hopes to start teaching within a few years when a position opens up. Until then she will be an educational assistant and supply teach when she is needed.
Mamakeesick said going to the Brock University campus in St. Catharines, Ont. to learn geology and live in residence for three weeks was an exciting experience.
She said that a big challenge was leaving her home community. Marg Raynor, coordinator of the Bachelor of Education program for Brock University, said that was the case for a lot of students.
“Separation from family was probably one of the biggest challenges,” said Raynor.
Raynor said that community and family crises create a difficult road block for students in the program.
“Here we are celebrating their graduating from this program, and today one of them receives a message that a friend has died back home,” said Raynor.
Barry McLoughlin, director of lifelong learning at NNEC, said that another challenge the students face is the need for understanding employers.
“If the student’s coming out who works in the school as a teacher’s assistant or as a teacher, that principal needs to have coverage for a few weeks,” said McLoughlin.
He said that on the flipside, one of the benefits of the program are the relationships the students form with each other.
“Brock recognizes the importance of those bonds and relations,” said Raynor. “All that is encouraged throughout the program because we know it has to be there.”
McLoughlin said the students become family, creating a support network that helps strengthen them as individuals.
Cherish Kakegamic of Sandy Lake First Nation, a graduate of the bachelor of education program, said she already has a teaching job lined up.
“I’m going to be teaching Grade 2 in my community,” said Kakegamic.
She said one of the biggest challenges was leaving her daughter behind, but she compromised by visiting her on weekends.
Her greatest moment, she said, will be graduating in October.
The graduates will be honoured at a ceremony at Brock University in St. Catharines in October.