Omushkego Education

Wachay!

I am so excited to be joining the Omushkego Education (OE) team as the Director of Education. I recently joined the team (November 14th) and I can already see what an amazing team we have here at OE.

My educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts from Nipissing University in Social Welfare and I received my Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University’s Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP) back in 1997. That being said, I have spent the past 25 years working in education. My experience ranges from intermediate classroom teacher (grade 5/6, 7, 7/8 and fifteen years in a grade 8 classroom), a year at our local high school teaching Native Studies, a year at Omushkego Education as the Learning Assessments Co-ordinator and 5 years as the Indigenous Education/Experiential Learning Lead and Culture Teacher for Moosonee Public School. I have to say that in all my years in education, I have truly been blessed to have had the opportunity to work with so many amazing children, parents, and colleagues.

While attending university, I had the opportunity to examine the National Indian Brotherhood’s (now Assembly of First Nations) policy paper on “Indian control of Indian education” and since then, I have adopted their philosophy of education as my personal philosophy when it comes to the education of our children in the Mushkegowuk territory, and that is it is imperative that we provide our children with an education that has relevance and meaning for them. My experience in the classroom has shown me that when we do this, our students shine!!

I am an enthusiastic educator with a passionate commitment to student development and the learning experience. One of the things I feel very passionate about is improving student achievement and school effectiveness by providing our students with a curriculum that is focused on our language, Indigenous history and perspectives, Indigenous content, Indigenous ways on knowing and being, land-based learning, and opportunities for experiential learning.

As we enter in to the holiday season, let us take the time to reflect on our blessings and to treasure the time spent with family and friends. From all of us here at Omushkego Education, we extend best wishes for the holidays, and for health and happiness throughout the coming year.

Meegwetch