Tansi Boozhoo! Hello Everyone!
Well, the spring flew by so fast, and April, May and June are already behind us!
PromoScience has been so busy, making new connections and traveling across Turtle Island, it’s time to sit down and fill you in!
April started off with our friends at Ecole Crane, where we decided to test the puddles in the school yard! We asked the question; do you think the puddle is healthy enough for fish to live? With the Conductivity reading 700+ we knew from our Water Rangers Education Guide that anything over 500 can affect fish reproduction. We also talked about turbidity, and how visibly dirty the water was, would a fish be happy living here? Big questions for us to think about in planning for our next get-together, when we will see and test the Red River!
*4th Floor Meeting Space at Red River College Manitou a bi Bii daziigae
I also had the opportunity to work with Seven Oaks School Division with OV Jewitt, and the Seven Oaks Treaty Training, as well as Sunrise School Division working with students at Springfield Collegiate Institute over 2 days in April. We ended April and started May with Seven Oaks School Division, where I was able to present for 2 days at STEAMFest! Held at the Red River College Campus Downtown, in the Manitou a bi Bii daziigaeCampus Building. My view for the day was a breath taker, right in the heart of Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District.
I met with 6 classes over 2 days, where we talked about the importance of learning where our waters come from, a little bit about Winnipeg’s history with the Exchange District, and we were also able to complete some water testing together, while also discussing the impacts to Treaty 3, 5 and 6 territories. Schools included: Exchange Met, 2 classes from Leila North, A.E. Wright, and 2 classes from Elwick. In total, we were able to reach and teach 131 students and their teachers over the course of these 2 days together!
It was such a pleasure to see familiar faces like Heather Eckton helping lead these 2 days! A big thank you to the Seven Oaks and Red River Teams for making these 2 days so smooth and successful!
May led the way for some new learning opportunities too! I was able to attend my first Outdoor Learning Conference, with Take Me Outside, held in Treaty 7 Territory, in Banff, Alberta. Not only did I get to attend, but I was also able to co-present and facilitate an Outdoor Learning session alongside University of Manitoba’s own Director of Land-Based Education, Nicki Ferland, as well as the previous Land & Water program lead, and current Student Advisor, Meghan Young. Together we discussed Wayfinding, Relating to Place by Mapping with our Bodies: Indigenous Wayfinding and Decolonial Mapping.
*Take Me Outside Conference – Wayfinding Session. Treaty 7, Banff, AB. Photo Credit Ashley Wolfe*
I also had the amazing opportunity to meet up with Praise Osifo with the Water Rangers to show off the Water Rangers kits we are currently working with. I was able to assist in the Water Testing session held at the Bow River, where I was able to talk to our group about our Manitoba connection and relationship to the Bow River and how it eventually connects to both the Assiniboine and Red Rivers, and all the way up to Hudson’s Bay.
Coming home from Banff was great, but the month was barely getting started. My next fun event was the Verna J. Kirkness Honour Dinner, held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on May 15. Together, U of M staff; Meghan Young, Jesse McGregor, Desiree Morrisseau, Vanessa Lillie and myself, all gathered to celebrate the hard work of 26 students through the Verna J. Kirkness Program. Thank you Carrie Selin for hosting this great evening!
*Pisew Falls, Treaty 5, MB. Photo Credit Ashley Wolfe
My next adventure in May was meeting and greeting our new students Aiden and Carter! Having 2 passionate undergraduate students join the team has been so great! They are eager to learn and willing to put in the hard work from the start! Stay tuned for their upcoming Bio and Introductions!
Our first team bonding trip was heading up to Thompson for the MALS (Manitoba Aboriginal Language Symposium) conference. This year the University College of the North hosted the 2 day event at the Thompson Regional Community Center, and Boreal Discovery Center. I had the amazing priviledge and opportunity to plan and facilitate the Land-Based Programing for the day. In total we ended up with 5 land-based learning sessions, each hosted by Nelliane Cromarty, Melanie Molin and Theresa Bighetty, Marie Ballantyne, Diane Powderhorn, and myself. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to facilitate this work by Dr. Ramona Neckoway and Dr. Maya Rad-Spice. Thank you for believing in me to do the work I love to do! This symposium had some amazing speakers and presenters like Dr. Lorna Wanosts’a7 Williams, the Red Cree Youth Dancers, Dr. Ron Ignace, Tom Johnson, Daniel Blair, and Dr. Ramona Neckoway herself just to name a few.
UCN posted their Photo Album from the event here – MALS | May 20-21 | Thompson, MB by University College of the North
This also presented an opportunity to continue on with provincial Land-Based curriculum development this fall alongside Wade Houle and Sarah Gazan. With my acceptance to the Faculty of Education this Fall term, I am so looking forward to my practicum work ahead through the Seven Oaks School Division at Maples Collegiate, and to further my work in working with our young ones.
Devistation happened when we got home though, and the wildfires happening up north would end up changing so many plans we had. A campus tour for Pine Creek students has been placed on hold, and land-based programming for camps is also on hold for our work with Frontier School Division until the fall, but tentative plans are still being made in hopes of a safe fall season ahead. Our ECL staff and students have made the time for volunteering at donation centers and community centers for wildfire relief efforts, and have been making sure to help out the community in need.
With our month of June focused on schools down south, I had the opportunity to visit my own daughters school at Ecole Beausejour Early Years, where we had the opportunity to test the schools tap water with 3 classes, two grade 2 classes, and one grade 4 class. I’m so grateful to Sunrise School Division for having me come to Lower Fort Gary as well to do their teachers Professional Development day, and being able to talk directly to the educators involved in my daughters learning is something I will not take for granted.
With our June coming to a close, and the last week of school in session for our little ones, I am so humbled and thankful that we got to fit in one last visit with Ecole Crane last week. Saying a simple thank you to Cathy Page and the EC Team, I cannot do this any justice. I am so gratful that Cathy has taken the chance on me, working with her littles in developing my work as an Educator, and trusting me in the relationship building with all their students. So much so, that we were able to take a combined class of Grade’s 2/3/4 all down to the river, and we were able to do water testing in groups and talk about comparative data. We talked about the difference between our first visit testing the puddle in the school yard, and our latest visit sampling from the river. I know I will miss Cathy, but not nearly as much as her students when she moves over to South Pointe School next year.