‘Model school’ for Indigenous education opens to fanfare

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This article was published 06/09/2018 (2766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Southeast Collegiate opened its new $24-million facility for First Nations high school students Thursday with a traditional ceremony that involved tobacco, drum songs and prayers.

The private school in Winnipeg’s Fairfield Park neighbourhood reports to be the only one of its kind in country — in it houses its student body of 156 on site in residences and offers multiple curricula streams infused with Indigenous languages, culture and traditions.

Federal Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott called the school, which has been operating since 1995, a model for Indigenous education.

“This is an impressive building, with impressive people who are part of it,” Philpott told reporters, after the opening ceremony that involved students presenting tobacco ties to the dozen or more political and First Nations dignitaries.

Students, staff and dignitaries then filed out of the school to a courtyard, where a fire pit had been lit. An elder explained each tie held a pinch of tobacco the dignitaries were invited to unwrap and offer to the flames, along with good wishes and prayers for the future of the school and its students.

Ottawa provided $10 million towards construction of the new facility, and it provide annual operating funds of $5.6 million.

Students arrive in Grade 10 and graduate three years later from Grade 12. The school — which also provides residences, a full fitness centre, and sports — boasts a retention rate of 85 per cent and graduation rate of 92 per cent.

Thursday’s ceremony drew a crowd, including many of the province’s Indigenous leaders, Winnipeg South Liberal MP Terry Duguid, and officials with the school’s parent organization, the Southeast Tribal Council.

The tribal council represents the nine First Nations located on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Most of the school’s students come from those communities, with 16 northern First Nations also selecting Southeast as their high school of choice. There are waiting lists for each grade level.

Cole Keeper, 17, is in his final year at the school, and was among the students who offered dignitaries tobacco ties.

The Grade 12 student from Little Grand Rapids said he “kinda misses the old building,” but is excited about the new one. He said the best thing about the school isn’t its bricks and mortar.

“In my time here, I’ve experienced a lot of growing up and big changes in myself. It has given me lots of confidence in myself,” Cole said, adding he plans to go on to university and perhaps a career as a politician.

Philpott said Southeast Collegiate is one of the “bright lights” across a country where similar things are happening with other schools.

The minister said, at Southeast, she was “seeing what a modern-day education rooted in Indigenous culture will really mean.”

“This absolutely (is) the leader in secondary education (in Manitoba) and, hopefully, many more places will follow it. I know there is a tremendous amount of interest from other schools that are getting in touch with Southeast Collegiate,” she said.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca