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ATHABASCA — Aspen View Public Schools (AVPS) has been working hard to meet the calls for action contained in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and laying the foundation to improve the educational success of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students.
At their Feb. 18 meeting, deputy superintendent Dr. Karen Penney made a presentation to trustees about her continued work on developing the foundational teaching and working with Tribal Chiefs Venture Inc. to develop supports for students who come off a Nation to access education in a public school.
"It is part of our system priorities that we improve the success of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students in Alberta eliminating the achievement gap,” Penney said in a Feb. 19 interview. “There's certainly a heightened focus on First Nation, Métis and Inuit student programming.”
AVPS, under Penney’s guidance, is ensuring all its schools are well-equipped to look at foundational teachings, like the Seven Sacred teachings — love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth — medicine wheel teaching, tipi teachings and land-based learning.
Phillip Campiou has been contracted to provide the tipi teachings at the schools, including erecting a tipi each school will be able to keep. He was to have started this school year, but the project has been pushed to next year due to the pandemic.
"He's agreed to do it after an offering of tobacco and a contract with him, because it'll be a major project for him; he will be working with all of our schools,” she said.
Students will also be learning about eagle feather and sash ceremonies, smudging, sweat lodges, dancing, drumming and a pipe ceremony with a goal of being able to offer drumming groups in some of the schools.
“High school graduation, of course, is considered a major achievement for non-Indigenous people and certainly Indigenous people, but our way of recognizing high school graduation as an accomplishment would be offering an eagle feather ceremony,” Penney said. "(Our) partnership with Fish and Wildlife has been wonderful; they've managed to supply us with incredible bald eagle feathers for this year's graduation ceremony. So, every Indigenous student graduating will be offered an eagle feather.”
Penney said it is not just about handing over a feather or a sash, there are teachings that go along with it so students understand the significance of what they've done and what they are receiving. The school division is facilitating elders in conducting the ceremony in which students receive acknowledgement for their accomplishment.
“Along with that, Métis students are going to be recognized with a sash presentation; we're looking at doing this during National Indigenous People's Day, June 21.”
The framework for education is not only for students, but for every level of staff, from senior administration to teachers, to understand First Nation, Métis and Inuit history — European settlement, treaties, residential schools, the Indian Act, the 60s Scoop, to take part in the KAIROS Blanket Exercise and of course, advance the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
"We need to learn that if we don't learn the truth, we're not going to be able to work toward reconciliation,” said Penney. “So, in the framework we address that and it's an expectation. Everybody in education from superintendents to administrators to teachers now have a new teaching quality standard, leadership quality standard, and superintendent quality standard that has a standard addressing First Nation, Métis, and Inuit understanding.”
Another part of Penney’s presentation was about discussions with Tribal Chiefs Venture Inc., a “conglomerate” of First Nations, to look at educational service agreements with various school divisions that will allow more collaboration and resource-sharing for students who choose to get their education in an Aspen View school.
“We really work with Saddle Lake First Nation and Whitefish Lake First Nation; they have students coming from the Nation to our schools,” she said. “We are in discussion right now with the Tribal Chiefs Venture Inc. to look at an educational service agreement … that allows us to have a partnership with the First Nation in educating their students. Then there will be an expectation under our agreement that they are getting the education they need, and we'll be able to share that information in aggregate form.”
And while Supt. Neil O’Shea heaped praise on Penney at the Feb. 18 meeting for her work on developing the framework, she says it is a team effort.
“I have to give a shout out to the superintendent and the board,” said Penney. “They're really the ones who have pushed this (framework). I came on board with a level of expertise in First Nation, Métis and Inuit programming, it's basically been my career; my doctoral thesis was on First Nation, Métis and Inuit student success … (but) they laid that foundation."
