Thursday, May 14, 2009

Public school board makes Cree program permanent

Public school board makes Cree program permanent

BY JANET FRENCH, THE STAR PHOENIX
MAY 2, 2009

Sheila Kennedy teaches Grade 2 and 3 students Friday as part of the Nehiyawiwin Cree language and culture program at Confederation Park School
Photograph by: SP Photo by Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix
Saskatoon Public Schools' board of education has voted to make a Cree language and culture program for young elementary students a permanent fixture in the division.

"I'm thrilled and excited that the board recognizes the value of this program and that it's meeting the needs of our students," Cort Dogniez, co-ordinator for First Nations, Inuit and Metis education for the division, said following the board's unanimous vote Tuesday evening.

The Nehiyawiwin Cree language and culture program began at Confederation Park School in 2005, when 12 children enrolled in kindergarten for the pilot project. The program followed the students to grades 1, 2 and 3, with a new class starting kindergarten in each successive year.

A report to the board says about 70 per cent of kindergarten instruction is in Cree, as is about 60 per cent of Grade 1 instruction and 50 per cent of lessons in the Grade 2/3 split class.

This school year, the division also added a pre-kindergarten class in Cree in order to give children five consecutive years of lessons in Cree. There are now 72 students enrolled in all five years of the program.

The program arose out of a partnership among the division, the Saskatoon Tribal Council and the Central Urban Metis Federation Inc. It's one way schools are trying to engage aboriginal students, Dogniez says, and the more engaged students are, the greater their chances of sticking with their education.

"(Although) Cree is probably the most widely spoken (aboriginal) language in Saskatoon, it doesn't mean that it's not threatened, in terms of being lost," Dogniez said. "We need to really focus on that revitalization."

In 2007, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools also introduced a bilingual Cree program for kindergarten students at St. Frances School. This year, there are 12 students in Cree kindergarten and 14 in Grade 1.

"We believe we need to do our part for First Nations language retention and the Cree language is a predominant First Nations language in this geographic region," said superintendent of education Gordon Martell.

Martell said the program will follow the students through their schooling. As long as there are enough students interested to sustain classes, the division will provide them, he said. The Catholic division hasn't termed its Cree program a "pilot," or "permanent," but instead calls it a program "in development."

Both programs are about more than reading and speaking Cree -- advisers have told the divisions language is inseparable from culture. Dogniez said elders come into the classrooms to talk to the children and tell stories. The students learn aboriginal histories, partake in feasts and join smudges and other cultural ceremonies.

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