WEYBURN - It’s a simple yet significant statement.
System Goal No. 1 in the South East Cornerstone Public School Division calls for a successful education process in 37 school facilities involving about 8,400 students.
“Our students have opportunities to learn and succeed in every school," states the information for the goal.
With that overseeing target entrenched in their governance minds, Cornerstone board members paid rapt attention to a series of presentations made in their conference room in the division’s head office in Weyburn on Sept. 20 during a regular public business session.
Director of education Keith Keating opened the presentation doors by referring to the province’s new Provincial Education Plan (PEP) that contains four priority actions and focus areas that include student transitions, inspiring success, learning support and assessments, and mental health and well being.
Keating pointed out the new school year will see Cornerstone implementing collaborative response teams in schools, supporting student assessment, working with the Indigenous Responsibility Education Framework and ensuring schools have understandings of trauma informed practices.
Keating noted that following the disruptions brought about by required responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, things returned to normal practices and procedures for the 2022-23 school year.
He also said that beyond the academic reach, there were also support plans and activities for students and families dealing with mental health or other challenges that required some attention to ensure student success moving forward.
Those items were included in some additional learning opportunities, he pointed out.
“We have a vast and knowledgeable learning support team to address student needs if support outside of school-based staff is required,” he said, before providing a litany of employees that included counsellors, co-ordinators, instructional coaches and liaison personnel who provide these vital services to, again, ensure a measure of student success.
With that introduction in place, Stoughton Central School principal Shelly Campbell provided a verbal and video presentation of the directions the kindergarten- Grade 12 school had taken to embrace their mandate to build bridges with the regional First Nations communities, especially the nearby Ocean Man community.
“We’re taking it to the land,” she said, during her opening notes to the board members.
She said she had grown up in the town and the school, and noticed that when she returned as teacher and leader, a certain disconnect in behaviours had surfaced between the Indigenous and other students.
“We had to become a community before we could go on,” she explained. “There’s still a long way to go, but we’re making progress.”
With that, a series of photos appeared on the screen displaying the Treaty 4 flag, Nakota language greetings, reconciliation statements, and a flag wall housing the Canadian and Saskatchewan flags, as well as the Métis, Treaty 4 and Pride flags, to represent acceptance, respect and safety for all.
Classroom activities and discussions have focused on such things as seven sacred teachings, keeping native languages alive, land acknowledgements, and a continual reach out to Ocean Man and other First Nations to include non-Indigenous as well as Indigenous students.
She remarked that in recent Nakota language lessons with Peter Bigstone, nine of the 15 original students were non-indigenous kids who just wanted to learn, and they did so within the spirit of fun and inclusion led by Bigstone.
“This received a better response than I expected,” she admitted. “Kids love to visit with Pete.”
Other land-based learning included teepee building and raising, a buffalo hunt with a ceremony, dressing of the carcass and processing the hide by both Ocean Man and town kids, she said.
“There is a spiritual aspect to this. It was hard work but it was also a once in a lifetime opportunity for us," she said.
Star blankets have been awarded to students and the school, a mark of partnership achievements.
Hoop dancing classes with Terrance Littlechief also drew a lot of interest along with a gardening project. Snow days involved a dog sled team experience along with snow shoeing, skiing and fireside activities that allowed even more team building.
“It all comes back to relationships,” said Keating near the end of the presentation.
“Yes, and we’re lucky to have a good working relationship with Ocean Man. Pinamaya Amba Wasdte Yuha," Campbell said in closing.
