Simon says

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/08/2023 (1124 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tucked away in Simon Monteith’s house is a microscope, a model volcano, Mars-like soil and crystals.

None filled his hands Tuesday — those were free to sign ASL (American Sign Language) as he practised for the Pow Wow Pitch.

“What is a scientist’s favourite tree?” the 10-year-old asked, motioning with his hands. “Chemistry.

“Tansi — I am Soaring Thunderbird Boy, also known as Simon the Scientist.”

He took the moniker in 2020 when he started uploading explanatory science videos online.

Since then, Simon, a Winnipeg resident from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, has educated classrooms in northern Manitoba schools, partnered with a national educational organization and received recognition from the provincial government.

Next up, he’s taking on the Pow Wow Pitch, a Dragons’ Den-esque event which awards money and mentorship to Indigenous organizations across Canada and the United States. Simon is, for the second year in a row, a semifinalist.

He’s among 130 to be chosen from more than 2,000 applicants.

The soon-to-be Grade 6 student hopes to make his online brand profitable. In May, he won $1,000 for his initial 2023 Pow Wow Pitch presentation. He’s in the running for $25,000 — cash to be funnelled into growing the brand and giving back, he said.

“(It’s) just kind of snowballed,” said Jacqueline Monteith, Simon’s mother.

Roughly 3.5 years ago, she was sitting with Simon on his bed, talking about a new virus called COVID-19.

“He just flipped everything that we had been talking about and trying to figure out … and he made it his own,” Jacqueline said.

On Tuesday, Simon laid out his take on the pandemic: if COVID-19 was speeding down a road, and the road was made of people, the people would have to erect roadblocks — barricades like masks and social distancing — to stop “the bad guy.”

“Simon has been showing me new and different and better ways of … how to reach kids,” said Jacqueline, a science instructional coach with Frontier School Division. “(It’s) from a kid’s perspective.”

She asked her son if he would be willing to explain the virus on video, to share with friends and students?

He said yes. Soon, the kitchen became his lecture hall, and Facebook and YouTube his teaching platforms.

Over the past three years, he’s uploaded videos on biology, geology and anatomy. He peppers in jokes — “Why did the baby airplane get sent to its hangar? It had a bad altitude” — and crafts like Halloween slime.

After increasing success, including recognition from the Rick Hansen Foundation as a difference-maker of the year in 2021, Simon the Scientist applied to last year’s Pow Wow Pitch.

The move “exploded” his opportunities. Simon ended as a semi-finalist but “it still sent out a lot of awareness,” Jacqueline said.

Simon began teaching once-a-month science lessons via video call to northern schools with Frontier School Division last year, Jacqueline added.

Ace Burpee placed Simon on his Top 100 Manitobans list in 2022. Simon took home gold in a Manitoba school-wide science competition; around the same time, he worked with national organization Let’s Talk Science on videos describing Indigenous perspectives in science.

The films will be distributed to teachers for their own professional education, said Tammy Webster, Let’s Talk Science’s director of equity.

She involved Simon after seeing him on last year’s Pow Wow Pitch.

“As an educator, I know the value of kids teaching kids,” Webster said. “They can see themselves, they can see the possibilities.”

The goal is to increase Indigenous worldviews in the classroom, Webster added.

“The only way we’re going to really transform a future is if those two worldviews (colonial and First Nations) are coming together in unison and understanding, versus one being prioritized over another,” Webster said, noting Indigenous perspectives are instrumental in handling the climate crisis.

She’s following Simon’s trajectory.

“If he’s what our future is, I’m thrilled,” Webster said. “I’m… over the moon.”

Simon pitched “Simon the Scientist” on Thursday to Pow Wow Pitch judges.

Just 20 of 130 semifinalists have held the title of Pow Wow Pitch semifinalist before.

“(Simon) was selected … for the second year in a row for his amazing growth in just one year,” Keely Thompson-Cook, Pow Wow Pitch’s communications co-ordinator, wrote in a statement.

The middle schooler faces five other youths in his category. A winner will be announced Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. He’s also up for the people’s choice prize; the semifinalist with the most votes snags $5,000. Voting began Friday and closes Sept. 18 at powwowpitch.org.

A better social media presence, a fund to help support other kids’ science ideas and money for travel to remote communities to promote an Indigenous voice in science top Simon’s agenda, should he take the Pow Wow Pitch crown.

He’s considered selling stickers and lab coats with Indigenous artwork to “make a bit of profit” and fund other kids’ ideas, including sending them materials for their own science projects.

“We … want to keep kids curious,” Simon said. “Maybe similar things will pop up like, I don’t know, Corey the Chemist.”

He has a business goal list for September, including selling $500 worth of merchandise, posting four times on social media and hosting a giveaway.

Simon holds tight to a simple message: “Follow your dreams, except for if it’s illegal.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com